You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
2 percent
Pocket Cast, which makes a $3.99 premium podcasting app that accounts for around 2 percent of all podcast downloads according to industry analyst Podtrac, has been purchased for an undisclosed sum by NPR, WNYC Studios, WBEZ Chicago and This American Life. This gives those producers another connection to consumers that isn’t owned by Apple or Spotify. [The Wall Street Journal]
7 pages
A Chicago news station sent DNA samples to various online DNA sequencing services to see how they stacked up against one another. But it wasn’t just people DNA; they also sent a round of samples of Labrador Retriever DNA to the services as well. Only one, Orig3n DNA, failed to observe that the DNA was not from a human. Their $29 test resulted in seven pages of findings about endurance and strength and other hogwash. [NBC Chicago]
20 percent
A teachers walkout in Arizona succeeded in increasing educational funding in the state. The walkout shut down schools in the state and tomorrow teachers and kids will be back. Teachers will get a 20 percent raise by 2020 and a further $138 million in funding is awarded to schools. [The Washington Post]
330 million
Twitter, a Silicon Valley company that specializes in making people sleep worse by beaming destructive blue light into their eyes at late hours and informing them of disturbing news, has messed up. The company is urging its 330 million customers to change their passwords because the company stored those passwords in plain text on its internal network. There’s no evidence of an external breach; it was just dumb. Once this crisis blows over the company will focus once again on its true mission, which is counteracting and effectively cancelling the effects of regularly meditating. [Reuters]
$350 million
That is the total debt held by Toms Shoes LLC. While the entire retail business is struggling, Toms is in a uniquely bad position. Toms’ $350 million in debt is about 15 times its annual earnings. The average debt load of distressed retailers is usually closer to 6 times or 5 times their earnings, according to Fitch. [Bloomberg]
3.4 billion
Number of video views of “Conan,” the late night show hosted by Conan O’Brien on TBS. In 2019 the show will shift from a one-hour program to a half-hour program, in part due to the fact that while the show has low ratings, it has an enormous digital presence with the youngest audience of any late night show. [The Hollywood Reporter]
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