Funds that track or invest in cable news outlets?

hank

With all the screaming and yelling cable networks with news / talk programing stand to make a mint over the next year or so. I’m thinking of MSNBC, FOX, CNN, NewsMax and the like. Locals owned by right-leaning Sinclair Broadcasting should also do well. Any ETFs or OEFs that track or overweight these gems? Forget “Court TV”. You won’t need it. The Georgia affair will be broadcast live. Sure to be a sordid affair and, hence, an incredible (and very lucrative) eyeball grabber.

The nearest thing I can compare it to (in Reality TV viewing ) is the 11-month long live telecast of the OJ Simpson Trial from 1994-1995 which raked in billions for the cable networks and elevated many previously unknown media commentators to celebrity status. The stuff careers are born of.

* Please direct any politically charged comments to the “Georgia Indictments” thread provided by @Old_Joe in the “Technical” section and, more appropriately, to the “Off Topic” section as he has recommended. I’d like to keep this one limited to how to turn chaff into gold.

LINK to OJ thread in “Technical” section: https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/61421/the-georgia-indictments#latest

LINK to @Derf’s related thread in “Off-Topic”: https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/61420/another-indictment-from-georgia#latest

yogibearbull

Cable is dying. Check Barron's on how Comcast/CMCSA has transformed itself. Son runs the co founded by his father.

rforno

When the trials start, they will likely go wall-to-wall coverage w/o commercials, so I'm not sure there's any profit-incentive here for the networks/stations or individual investors.

If anything, buy yourself a nice 12 year old scotch to savor, you'll enjoy it more.

sma3

Why stop at 12? The way this is going, I would drink 25 YO minimum, as we are not likely to survive much longer!

rforno

sma3 said:

Why stop at 12? The way this is going, I would drink 25 YO minimum, as we are not likely to survive much longer!

Hah ... I have a 40 y/o bottle that's my Apocalypse Dram!

WABAC

@hank, I think you're looking at the communication services category in ETF land for any "concentration" at all. And they're still sharing space with Netflix, Disney, Paramount, Google, etc.

I signed up at this site: https://www.etf.com/ and they have never once sent me an email.

hank

rforno said:

When the trials start, they will likely go wall-to-wall coverage w/o commercials, so I'm not sure there's any profit-incentive here for the networks/stations or individual investors.

If anything, buy yourself a nice 12 year old scotch to savor, you'll enjoy it more.

Funny you should say that. A local market had 8 or 10 bottles of Jura 10-year double-casked / sherry finish from old stock. No longer able to get. Best stuff I’ve ever tasted. No one else had it. Tried to special order their 12 year from a local stalwart. Also not available. So I bought every bottle of the 10 year in the store over a few weeks. Store has none now. But I have 6 in the cabinet. Pray for a short trial!

MrRuffles

From the ads on the news channels, network news, and local news, it’s apparent that their audiences are not a highly valued demographic. (A lot of drug and Medicare ads not to mention the MyPillow and gold bug ads on the right-leaning outlets.)

Plus the news operations are such a small sliver of the ginormous publicly held parent companies (e.g., Comcast, Warner Bros Discovery, News Corp., Paramount, Disney), that any uptick is unlikely to make a dent in the stock price.

yogibearbull

Top 2 holdings of communications ETF XLC are META & GOOG/GOOGL at 48%+. Equal-weight ETF is RSPC.

WABAC

MrRuffles said:

From the ads on the news channels, network news, and local news, it’s apparent that their audiences are not a highly valued demographic. (A lot of drug and Medicare ads not to mention the MyPillow and gold bug ads on the right-leaning outlets.)

Plus the news operations are such a small sliver of the ginormous publicly held parent companies (e.g., Comcast, Warner Bros Discovery, News Corp., Paramount, Disney), that any uptick is unlikely to make a dent in the stock price.

Good stuff @MrRuffles. And it's not too hard to find out that the number of people that watch cable news is pretty small in comparison to the amount of noise that it generates.

Fox came in first place in total day viewers, averaging 1.1 million, including 140,000 in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research data.

MSNBC ranked second, netting a daily average of 796,000 total viewers and 95,000 in the 25-54 age demographic. CNN came in last place among the three leading cable news networks, earning an average of 463,000 total day viewers.

Mark

@hank - google "who owns CNN"

You'll see many links to ownership as well as some for FOX and Fox News(?).

In another brief peek I found that MSNBC is owned by NBC Universal News group. NBC Universal News is a subsidiary of Comcast (CMCSA).

hank

Thanks @Mark. Enjoyed all the guffaws. But yours is good basic investment info. I’m not talking about who the audience is or whether the distinguished members here plan to view. I see a 3-ring circus shaping up and plenty of green to be made from the Ads. Let’s face it. Making money’s been tough the last couple years - at least if you’re not heavy into tech.

I should have added that both political parties will be spending generously on advertisement across media. Hell, Trump is swimming in dough as all the indictments just help pull in more contributions. I’d expect similarity heavy inflows from the left to their candidate as the campaign heats up.

Thank you for avoiding political comment here. Old Joe & Derf both have threads running on the judicial / political issues and both are well qualified to manage those threads.

yogibearbull

Major media is owned by big corporations.

Comcast/CMCSA - NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Sky News (UK)
Disney/DIS - ABC
Fox Corp/FOX - Fox News; Fox Corp is run by Murdoch clan that runs News Corp/NWS
News Corp/NWS - WSJ, Barron's, Sun (UK), Times (UK)
Paramount/PARA - CBS
Warner Bros Discovery/WBD - CNN
Self-standing are NY Times/NYT , Bloomberg (Michael Bloomberg).

hank

Thanks @yogibearbull

One media heavy stock I’ve played with in / out the past couple years is GHC (the former Washington Post Co.) I’m currently out - or probably wouldn’t mention it. Barron’s ran a very positive story on it a year+ ago which brought it to my attention. They have local TV stations in about a half dozen major cities, including Washington DC, Jacksonville, Fla. and Detroit. It can’t seem to get out of its own way. Has gone nowhere over the time I’ve watched or owned it. But - Gosh … I’d expect it to benefit from political advertising as the Prez campaigns heat up. It’s always on my radar.

yogibearbull

To the list I should add media owned/run by billionaires. Several look like vanity plays.

Benioff - Time (US)
Bloomberg - Bloomberg (already mentioned)
Bezos - Washington Post
Laurene Jobs - Atlantic
Musk - Twitter (social-media, nonprint)
Masa Son/SFTBY - Gannett (USA Today; many local/regional newspapers)
Zuckerberg - Facebook (social-media, nonprint)
etc

hank

2020 Election Cost $14.4 Billion https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/02/2020-cycle-cost-14p4-billion-doubling-16/

State & Local Spending on 2022 Mid-Term Election Set to Top $16.7 Billion https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/03/2022-midterm-election-spending-set-to-break-record.html

Investing 101: ”The trend is your friend.”