Weekly Recap: Pink's Bottom Line on Media, Money and Sports
Top items and takeaways from this week's newsletter
Here are the top items and takeaways from this week’s newsletter.
MEDIA
Television advertising revenue in the United States for the Summer Olympic Games could reach an all-time high of $2.25 billion, according to a forecast from Kantar, a data and research company. If domestic television ad revenue does hit $2.25 billion, that would be an increase of more than 21% compared to 2016, the last time the Summer Olympics were held. While digital advertising for the Olympics also is growing, television remains the behemoth when it comes to generating ad revenue — and it looks like it will be that way for the foreseeable future.
Streaming accounted for a greater percentage of total video consumption in June than it did in May, according to Gauge, a product from Nielsen that provides a snapshot of total video consumption across broadcast, cable television and streaming. Streaming accounted for 27% of total consumption in June compared to 26% in May, according to Gauge. Cable television accounted for the greatest percentage of total video consumption in June at 40%, up from 39% in May. Meanwhile, broadcast television accounted for 23% of total viewing in June, down from 25% in May, according to Gauge. Here’s what all of that data means.
Season two of the critically acclaimed situation comedy Ted Lasso debuted today on the Apple TV+ video streaming service. Apple TV+ has enjoyed some success in video streaming with original programming like Ted Lasso, but Netflix and others still invest far more money into original production than Apple. Interestingly, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that Apple was looking at increasing its presence in Hollywood by leasing a potentially large production facility in the Los Angeles area. Apple’s potentially bigger presence in Hollywood once again shows that the lines between big tech and big media are blurring.
MONEY
Billings, Montana has emerged as the top housing market in the country, according to the The Wall Street Journal/Realtor.com Emerging Housing Markets Index released earlier this week. Among the top ten housing markets in that index, all with the exception of Raleigh, North Carolina are small to midsize cities. Here’s why I expect housing markets in many of these smaller and midsize cities to remain strong and to develop rapidly in the next few years.
Chipotle, the immensely popular Mexican fast casual restaurant chain, reported strong quarterly earnings Tuesday. Notably, the company’s second quarter revenues soared 38.7% compared to the second quarter of last year, and digital sales accounted for a whopping 48.5% of total sales last quarter. Chipotle, like other national restaurant chains, emerged as a beneficiary of the coronavirus pandemic as more customers placed orders digitally. Those digital sales should continue to increase in the next year.
The recent torrid growth in home prices continued unabated in June, according to a report released earlier this week from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). According to that report, the median price of an existing home jumped 23.4% in June compared to June of 2020. Those sharply higher existing home prices reflect a tight inventory of homes available for sale, lower mortgage interest rates and fundamentally strong consumer demand for housing at the moment. While the rate of those prices increases probably will slow, home prices still look like they will move higher well in to next year as fundamental consumer demand for housing shows no sign of slowing.
SPORTS
Collin Morikawa emerged last weekend as perhaps the best young men’s golfer in the world after winning The Open Championship in England. Notably, it was also Morikawa’s first time playing in The Open Championship — he also won the PGA Championship the first time he played in that major tournament. Most importantly, Morikawa looks unflappable when he plays and appears to handle pressure exceptionally well — those are indications he’ll likely be competitive in golf’s major tournaments for years to come.
The Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA title this week beating the Phoenix Suns 4-2 in their best of seven series. However, Milwaukee isn’t favored to win a second straight NBA title next year. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Brooklyn Nets are the clear favorite to win it all in the NBA in 2022 followed by the Los Angeles Lakers and then Milwaukee. However, the Lakers — with an aging LeBron James and an injury prone Anthony Davis — likely won’t be title contenders in 2022. That means that the Eastern Conference probably has the two best teams in the league in the Nets and the Bucks. As such, expect the NBA champion to come from either Brooklyn or Milwaukee next year.
The NFL appears to be taking a very tough stance on unvaccinated players in the league. The NFL this week reportedly issued a memo to teams in the league that said that the league will not extend the season for games if they’re postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak of unvaccinated players. Additionally, a team could forfeit the game if it can’t be rescheduled and is cancelled for an outbreak among unvaccinated players — and players from both teams would not be paid for the cancelled game in that case, either. As such, this new policy likely will act as a catalyst for more players to get vaccinated, but it will also likely create even more friction between the league and the NFL players union.
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)