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THE HEADLINES
Estimated Read Time: 3 minutes and 27 seconds
DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL
YouTube TV and the NBA are going all Jordan and Pippen, partnering up to make YouTube TV the presenting sponsor of the 2018 NBA Finals. Both the WNBA finals and NBA G League finals will be aired on the network as well … for all 15 of their fans.
The Association’s deal with YouTube will include naming/presenting rights, as well as on-air call-outs and ABC commercial spots during final’s games.
You(tube’s) got what I need …
The deal comes after YouTube TV announced an expansion of their service and an increase in price. It’s safe to assume that the NBA will be seeing a significant portion of that price hike.
Alphabet’s brainchild has been making some big moves lately: they inked a similar deal for the World Series, and became the official viewing networks of Seattle Sounders FC and Los Angeles Football Club.
Water Cooler Talking Point: “YouTube TV making a play for more and more sporting events is the smartest thing they could be doing. That’s the only hesitation I had about cord cutting. Now if they could just get a hold of my parents HBO password …”
LET THE GOOD TIMES TROLL
Yesterday we told you that Elon Musk went scorched earth on Zuck and Facebook via Twitter. And it seems as if the world continues to stuff Zuckerberg in a proverbial locker.
ICYMI
Don’t blink. The opening credits to the first episode of the third season of Silicon Valley on HBO hit The ‘Book below the belt. Hint: it’s a Russian election meddling reference.
Blast from the past
Like a glorious social media Phoenix rising from the ashes, even Myspace Tom got in on the fun. Why? Because why not?
GOOGLE, I CHOOSE YOU!
Shopify, the preferred e-tailer of crowdfunded t-shirt “startups” chose Google over Amazon to provide back-end support for its online business. The tech unicorn operates an e-commerce platform that supports smaller merchants to sell online, and, well, compete with Amazon.
The details of the deal have not been released, but this is a big win for Google Cloud, as they try to keep up with Microsoft and Amazon. Shopify currently serves more than 600k businesses, which generates massive amounts of data.
On the flip side, with cloud storage under control, Shopify can stick to growing their core business: helping merchants peddle items you can usually only find on Craigslist and eBay.
Water Cooler Talking Point: “I like to see when other companies team up to compete against Amazon. Yea, I’m a Prime member but it’s so annoying how they are good at everything. This must be how all my family and friends feel about me.”
IN OTHER NEWS
- Lowe’s CEO Robert Niblock will retire after 13 years in the role. The news comes amid activist investor pressure to right the DIY ship.
- Average Wall Street bonuses hit their highest mark since 2006. Occupy League Assemble!
- Facebook shares fell further yesterday on the news that the FTC is opening an investigation into its privacy practices.
- JPMorgan will give Wall Street access to its research reports via Amazon Alexa. Because nothing says “secure transfer of data” quite like a voice activated, relatively recent technological innovation.
- Next up for Elon Musk and the Boring Company? Massive Lego-type blocks made from tunnel rock.
- US indices were “all the way up” yesterday:
- DOW: +2.84%
- S&P 500: +2.72%
- NASDAQ: +3.26%
ACTION ITEMS
TALKING SHOP: If you’ve ever had the pleasure of engaging a native Manhattanite in conversation you’ll quickly learn the following:
- How much they hate tourists and generally anyone who walks slowly
- What they do for a living
- How much they work (hint: it’s a lot)
So the proposed “right to disconnect” law which will prohibit private employers from requiring employees to answer electronic communications “after-hours” might be a tough pill to swallow for “real” New Yorkers.
Of course there won’t be any law against the golden boys and girls of corporate America answering emails into the wee hours … or your company moving you to Jersey.
UNSOLICITED ADVICE: Always. Be. Closing. In emails at the very least. According to science, the way you finish off an email can be just as important as content when it comes to getting a response. Apparently not all closing lines were created equal …
- “Thanks in advance” (65.7% response rate) – This is the power move of emails that sounds so much less aggressive than “I’ll expect this on my desk first thing tomorrow.”
- “Cheers” (54.4% response rate) – If you are from this side of the pond, consider your “Cheers” card revoked.
- Check out the full list