Meta’s Muse Flops, the BBC Sells Ads, and Regional Sports Networks Collapse: 3 Media What-Ifs | Behind the Numbers

Marcus Johnson (0:00)

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Hey gang, it's Monday, October 12th, Ross, Bill, Max, and listeners, welcome to Behind the Numbers EMARKETER Podcast made possible by Atmosphere TV. I'm Marcus, and join me for today's conversation. We have three folks just north of New York City, senior analyst Ross Benes.

Ross Benes (0:38)

Hey Marcus.

Marcus Johnson (0:38)

Hey fella, he covers digital media for us. We've got principal analyst covering the UK, over in the UK, Mr. Bill Fisher.

Bill Fisher (0:45)

Hello Marcus.

Marcus Johnson (0:46)

Hello, hello. And principal analyst covering social media. He is in Philly, Max Willens. Yo. Yes. Today's fact.

Which, so what is America's favorite ice cream flavor? And by that, I mean, which flavor is popular in the most states? So is strawberry most popular in like 20 of the states? And that's number one, or is it?

Ross Benes (1:11)

OK, I'll go with strawberry.

Max Willens (1:14)

Vanilla.

Marcus Johnson (1:14)

And Bill, you said?

Bill Fisher (1:16)

But I'm agree with Max.

Marcus Johnson (1:19)

OK, you're right too. Signature flavor in 19 states, more than any other flavor.

It's basically all the middle ones. In the middle of the country, it's all those. Then you've got Florida, the only state where plain chocolate wins, despite ranking as the second most ordered flavor nationally. So it's no one's first favorite, but it's most people's second favorite.

Ross Benes (1:45)

That's how I am as a podcast guest here.

Marcus Johnson (1:50)

No comment. There are multiple geographic clusters as well. So Rocky Road is number one in the West. Coffee in New England, in that corner. Mint Choc Chip in the mid-Atlantic cluster of Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Peanut Butter in the Rust Belt and Butter Pecan, as you guys say, Pecan, Pecan, through North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. So there are flavor clusters throughout the states.

Don't worry, Bill, I've got you. Britain's favorite ice cream flavor, according to YouGov, is?

Bill Fisher (2:28)

Caramel.

Marcus Johnson (2:31)

No, that's nowhere on the list. Oh, salted caramel. Yeah, I give you it. Yeah, it is fifth. Good save. Pied with rum and raisin. So shocking flavors. It's vanilla again.

Surprisingly, 18% mint choc chip and a cheeky second, 14% chocolate, third, just behind and then strawberry behind that.

Really England's favorite, Britain's favorite ice cream flavor is Mr. Whippy, which I guess technically is vanilla.

Bill Fisher (3:06)

It's not ice cream Marcus. It's, I don't know what it is. That's a fair point.

Marcus Johnson (3:10)

Who knows what's happening in those ice cream trucks, but it tastes amazing. Put a flake in it, job done. Anyway, today's real topic. We make some, I don't even know if they're very specific, highly unlikely predictions. We're going to talk about some what if things.

All right, here's how this episode works. This first, he gets 45 seconds to pitch a what if scenario that could possibly come true in the short term and the near future.

And then we'll discuss it. Bill goes next and then Max. Ross, what do you have?

Ross Benes (3:44)

So the MLB is going to go into an extended lockout for this next season due to labor issues and the league wanting to institute a salary cap, which the players don't want. This is going to force regional sports networks to shut down at an even greater rate than they had been previously, which is going to centralize control of MLB local broadcast directly to the league.

Marcus Johnson (4:15)

So, let's get into the what? So it's the only major US sport without a salary cap, correct?

Don't believe what he does? Okay.

Ross Benes (4:26)

Yeah.

Marcus Johnson (4:27)

And they, why is this a big deal now? Why are they debating this at the moment?

Ross Benes (4:31)

Well, part of the what if is the Dodgers will win the World Series, and the Dodgers winning the World Series is going to put on greater pressure to institute a cap, because they outspend everyone tremendously, and they sign all the biggest free agents. So, like, if you look at the last few years, they already had an all-star roster with multiple MVPs, and then they signed Otani, and then they got Diaz from the Mets, and even though they already are a roster complete with all-stars, they have much more talent than even the 90s Yankees did. So, they are on a quest to have their third consecutive World Series, and the argument is that it's, like, unfair that the Dodgers have this advantage, and we need to level the playing field. And the players, of course, say, this sport has operated fine for over 100 years without a salary cap. You billionaire owners don't even pay for your own stadiums. Now you don't even want to pay your talent what they're worth. You're not going to direct this money into the community. You're just going to hoard it and save it for yourselves. Why should we have our revenue cut when the fans come to see us, not to see the owners? So, there's a big rivalry there between the owners and the labor, the players.