Weekly Roundup – Week of May 1st, 2023

"The New York Times published multiple stories in November 2022 critiquing sports betting industry practices. One of those stories specifically discussed promotions with risk-free bets:

"Few imposed restrictions on companies using promotional offers — such as “risk-free” wagers, in which customers are reimbursed for losing bets — to lure neophyte gamblers. Those tactics have been banned in some countries because of their potential to hook people predisposed to compulsive gambling."

That language has changed, of course, with many sportsbooks opting to use bonus bets instead of free or risk-free bets. In fact, the bonus bets language even shows up in a promotional offer between BetMGM and The Athletic, which is owned by the Times.

The promotion, shared on Twitter, follows the same concept as the promotions the New York Times identified as predatory in its reporting. Bettors who sign up with BetMGM can get $200 in bonus bets and a free one-year subscription to The Athletic just for making a $10 bet."

"Ever since Bob Iger returned to lead the Walt Disney Co. in November, he’s spoken almost every day with one of his key deputies, ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro. Iger is an avid sports fan with a deep knowledge of history. “He has forgotten more about sports than I’ll ever know,” Pitaro said.

But these days, the two executives don’t focus much on the past. Many of their conversations, Pitaro said in a recent interview, concern ESPN’s future — specifically, its streaming service, ESPN+, and deciding the right moment to someday offer the full channel to the growing legions of cable cord-cutters.

“We’re going to get to a point where we take our entire network, our flagship programming, and make it available direct to consumer,” Pitaro said. “That’s a ‘when,’ not an ‘if’….We’re only going to do it when it makes sense for our business and for our bottom line.”

For now, ESPN operates two largely distinct businesses. It shows the biggest sports matchups almost exclusively on traditional TV channels — and for good reason. Last year, TV viewers generated $28 billion in revenue for Disney, the most of any big media company. At the same time, it’s airing more live sports on ESPN+, a $10-a-month streaming service that launched five years ago.

The network’s streaming ambitions keep growing. As part of ongoing negotiations with the NBA over a new contract that will take effect in 2025, ESPN executives want to acquire the rights to put pro basketball games on ESPN+. “I’m confident we’re going to see eye-to-eye on how to prioritize streaming,” Pitaro said of talks with the league."

"Back in 2014, Sandeep Satish worked on an MBA project for Major League Baseball examining the impact a pitch clock would have on the in-game business of teams. Now, Satish, who works with nine MLB teams as managing director of DBK Studios and vice president, E15 Group at concessionaire Levy, is having the surreal experience of a grad school project come to life.

“That was one of the most interesting projects,” said Satish. “You think eight years ago that seemed so far-fetched.”

MLB seemingly got an editor during the offseason, trimming the fat off game times with the institution of a 30-second pitch clock and several other rules intended to quicken the pace and get the ball in play more often. Just over a month into the season, MLB games are running 2 hours, 36 minutes, which is 27 minutes shorter on average than the 2022 season, and 34 minutes shorter than the 2021 season, according to baseball-reference.com.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive, crucial for a league playing its first normal season since 2019, after three pandemic and lockout-tarnished seasons.

“I was skeptical at first because I’m a traditionalist,” said Arizona Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall, “and I think it’s the best thing our game has adapted to in a long time.”

...

In MLB this year, fans are showing up earlier and staying later, reducing any significant labor expense savings for teams, but also the post-seventh inning F&B sales slowdown that was historically the norm in baseball. The Diamondbacks are welcoming those earlier-arriving fans with pregame fiestas including live music, food trucks and corporate sponsor activations, as well as the draw of the nearby, year-old Caesars Lounge and, for the first time since the pandemic, a reopened local chain restaurant in the stadium’s outfield that fans can access pregame."

"Two years ago, a majority of Republican Twitter users in the United States said the site had a bad impact on American democracy. But today, following Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, their views have become much more positive, while those of their Democratic counterparts have grown more negative.

The share of Republican and Republican-leaning Twitter users who say the platform is mostly bad for American democracy has dropped from 60% in 2021 to 21% today, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted March 13-19, 2023. At the same time, the share of Republican Twitter users who say the site is mostly good for democracy has risen from 17% to 43%.

Democrats’ views have moved in the opposite direction. The percentage of Democratic and Democratic-leaning Twitter users who say the platform is good for American democracy has decreased from 47% to 24% in the past two years, while the share who say it is bad for democracy has increased – though more modestly – from 28% to 35%.

Still, growing shares in both parties say Twitter isn’t impacting American democracy. In 2021, roughly a quarter each of Republican and Democratic Twitter users said the site had no impact on American democracy. Those shares increased to 36% among GOP users and 40% among Democratic users in the latest survey."

"YouTube Music is officially adding podcasts to its platform in the United States on Android, iOS and the web. The rollout comes a few months after YouTube podcasting head Kai Chuk revealed that podcasts would be added to YouTube Music soon.

The update allows users watching podcasts on the main app to continue listening to them on YouTube Music. The company notes that all users can listen to podcasts on-demand, offline, in the background, and while casting and can seamlessly switch between audio-video versions on YouTube Music.

“This podcast listening experience is different from our music listening experience where you need a Premium or Music Premium subscription to enjoy some of these features,” the company wrote in a blog post. “This new podcast listening experience complements the podcast video experience on YouTube.”

Podcasts in YouTube Music will be available regardless of whether you have a YouTube Premium subscription. YouTube even notes that paying customers may encounter host-read endorsements or sponsorship messages when listening to podcasts on YouTube Music."

"Vice is slashing staff and closing its flagship broadcast program, Vice News Tonight. BuzzFeed News is shutting down. Vox recently laid off nearly 10% of its staff. Gawker went out of business, again, in February.

It has been trying times for digital media. And there are no signs of when the punishing developments will let up.

The turmoil caused by a historic slowdown in digital advertising is sparking worries among staff at online media companies about further and possibly deeper cuts beyond the mass layoffs and abrupt closures over the last few months.

"I think the current moment is the product of both a huge shift away from social media, and a tough economy," said Ben Smith, a former editor in chief of BuzzFeed News and author of "Traffic," a history of the rise and fall of BuzzFeed. "But readers and viewers still want to understand the world."

...

"The news industry didn't really have a profit model other than trying to get eyeballs and earn digital advertising revenue," said Courtney Radsch, who studies technology and media at UCLA. "But what we saw is that the tech platforms, specifically Google and Facebook, ended up controlling that digital advertising infrastructure."

In other words, news outlets used social media to reach people. But the tech companies pocketed most of the advertising dollars, something that has become even more pronounced as a pullback in ad spending wallops both the media and tech sectors.

...

But if media companies want out, it's not going to be an easy transition, since news sites have become so entangled with social media.

Industry norms for writing and promoting stories for social media are now gospel in most newsrooms.

Outlets craft stories for maximum social amplification with headlines and topics that can be easily juiced by algorithms. They're all chasing that singular reward that social media recommendation systems provide: clicks."

In Katie Miller's latest entry for Harker Bos Group, she discusses how in the ever-changing world of radio, staying ahead of the game requires stations to understand their audience and market dynamics. That’s where strategic studies and music tests come into play, working together to help stations optimize their programming and make informed decisions.