Pink's Bottom Line on Media, Money and Sports
Podcasting ad revenue, US economic growth and major college football
In today’s newsletter, I discuss podcasting ad revenue, US economic growth and major college football.
MEDIA: Podcasting Ad Revenue
Those results appeared to disappoint some investors because the growth of monthly active users, a key metric for Spotify, fell below some expectations.
Pink's Bottom Line
Still, within that earnings report, Spotify said advertising revenue grew 110% led in part by ads for its podcasts.
Spotify has emphasized podcasts in the past couple of years with acquisitions of both The Ringer and Gimlet Media, two popular podcast content producers.
Spotify’s emphasis on podcasting will likely continue as the IAB projects podcasting ad revenue to grow sharply to more than $1 billion in the US by the end of the year.
Because of that huge potential of US podcasting ad revenue, the already ultra-competitive podcasting sector, which includes major players like Spotify, SiriusXM, Apple and others, will become even more competitive.
MONEY: US Economic Growth
The US economy grew at an annual rate of 6.5% last quarter, according to a government report released earlier today.
Notably, the consumer powered overall economic growth as personal consumption expenditures rose at an annual rate of 11.8% last quarter.
A strong consumer is key to any sustained recovery as consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of overall economic activity in this country.
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While a 6.5% overall annual growth rate is significant, it still fell below expectations of many economists.
Additionally, it’s unclear now just how much impact the recent resurgence of coronavirus will have on economic growth — and on the American consumer — for the remainder of the year.
SPORTS: Texas, Oklahoma and the SEC
Texas and Oklahoma, two traditional college football powerhouses, look almost certain to join the Southeastern Conference (SEC) — here’s a good summary from ESPN of what’s happening.
That means that the SEC, which already is the strongest college football conference in the country, will now get even stronger.
The likely move to the SEC by Texas and Oklahoma also probably augurs the end of the Big 12 Conference where the two schools currently are members.
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An expanded SEC including Texas and Oklahoma is just latest sign that major college football, which had been staid for many years, now is in the throes of major change.
In addition to the shake up of the conferences, college football players — and all college athletes for that matter — now can get compensated for their name, image and likeness for the first time beginning this year.
There’s also talk of expansion to 12 teams from the current four for the College Football Playoff.
All of that said, don’t expect the top college programs to change much — expect at least one of either Alabama, the SEC champ if it’s not Alabama, Clemson or Ohio State to play for the national championship each year for the foreseeable future.
Jeremy Pink is currently COO of Geniecast, a leading virtual content and experience company. He is the former CEO of private-equity backed Broadcast Sports International where he helped lead 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.
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)