Pink's Bottom Line on Media, Money and Sports
Netflix earnings, the housing market and sports ratings
In today’s newsletter, I discuss Netflix, housing and sports ratings.
MEDIA: Netflix Earnings
When Netflix reported earnings Tuesday, the company said that net subscriber growth last quarter fell below its prior estimate.
Netflix signed up a net additional 2.2 million subscribers in its latest quarter, below the company’s original estimate of 2.5 million.
That follows subscriber gains of more than 10 million in the first quarter, and 15.8 million in the second quarter — many of those subscribers from the first six months of the year were pulled forward largely due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Pink's Bottom LineInterestingly, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in the company’s earnings call last night, “We try not to get overly focused on the COVID effects because they're very one-time in nature.”
What I found most interesting, though, was what Sarandos said about competition to the video streaming service.
“We compete for time against TNF (Thursday Night Football), TikTok and YouTube as well as HBO as well as Fortnite,” he said. “So really, the limiter for us is what's the quality of our service, how often, how many nights do you say, ‘Oh my God, I want to go to Netflix and watch the next show.’”
Again, it appears that great content remains the key driver for Netflix.
(Full disclosure: I found the comments from Sarandos on Aiera, an event access and data monitoring platform company, where I serve as an advisor.)
MONEY: Strong Housing Market
There’s more evidence today that US housing remains strong and could lead the way to a sustained, overall US economic recovery.
The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that housing starts grew 1.9% in September compared to August, and jumped 11.1% last month compared to September 2019.
The Commerce Department also reported that the number of authorized building permits, an indicator of future housing activity, rose 5.2% in September compared to revised numbers from August.
Pink's Bottom LineBoth housing starts and housing permits numbers show that the US housing market not only remains robust, but it looks poised for significant growth in the coming months.
That strength will be crucial as the country grapples with anticipated soaring coronanvirus cases for the rest of fall and winter, which likely will put a damper on overall economic activity.
SPORTS: Baseball, NBA and NFL Viewership
An astute reader of this newsletter sent me a very interesting note the other day.
He pointed out that Sunday’s Game Seven of baseball’s National League Championship Series (NLCS) between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves had higher viewership numbers than any of the six NBA Finals games earlier this month.
That NLCS game pulled in about 9.7 million viewers on Fox and Fox Sports 1 while the most watched NBA Finals game — Game 5 — had just under 9 million viewers.
Pink's Bottom LineIt appears that playoff baseball still can pull in a significant audience even when directly up against strong competition like it faced two days ago on Sunday Night Football, which featured the Los Angeles Rams against the San Francisco 49ers.
However, that Sunday night game between the Rams and 49ers, an unassuming regular season week 6 game in the NFL, still pulled in 12.6 million viewers and easily bested the NLCS finale.
In other words, the NFL remains a ratings juggernaut.
Jeremy Pink is former CEO of private-equity backed Broadcast Sports International where he led the company to a successful sale and exit during his tenure there. He is also a former CNBC television executive in New York, London and Singapore. Jeremy currently serves as an advisor, consultant or board member to companies in New York, London and Hong Kong in the media, technology, sports and financial tech sectors.
The information contained in this communication is strictly for general informational and entertainment purposes and is not meant to be construed as financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. This communication is not a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. I am not a financial advisor or offering professional advice of any kind. Users should not act upon the content or information found within this communication without first seeking professional advice appropriate for their individual situation. Decisions based on information contained in this communication are the sole responsibility of the user, and use of this communication and its contents constitutes an explicit understanding and acceptance of the foregoing disclaimers.
(Newsletter Editor: Karina Pink)