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| Hello Insiders, Thursday's Inside Business newsletter tackles a genre of TV that's consistently in the ratings, what PG&E is trying to do to curb wildfires in California, and how Southwest Airlines pilots are poised to strike. Make sure to keep reading and check out the Knowledge Hub and Quick Hits. Christopher
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| 1 | | Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), the utility company that services much of California, is seeking a roughly $7B federal loan to fund its plan to reduce the wildfire risk in the state. The loan will go toward burying power lines and upgrading the electrical grid. More: - The company was invited to apply by the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office, which seeks to fund projects that shift away from the reliance on fossil fuels.
- If approved, it would rank among the largest ever funded.
- PG&E wants to use the money to bury 10,000 miles of power lines in the areas where wildfire risk is highest.
- PG&E is preparing for a surge in demand now that there is a push toward electric vehicles, and the government funding would help costs.
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What the numbers say: New game shows have a place on broadcast television, as nine shows finished in the top 100 in overall viewers for the 2022-23 season. Jeopardy! Masters ranked the highest in viewers, coming in at 24th place with an average of 6.57 million viewers. Celebrity Jeopardy and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune ranked second and third, coming in at 53rd and 61st with 4.30 million and 3.81 million viewers, respectively. Relevance: Game shows are some of the most consistently performing shows on broadcast television each year. People rely on game shows for their consistency and enjoy new takes on them. Outside of live sports, game shows are frequently in the conversation for the most watched TV shows each year, making them great for advertisers. The big news this week is that Ryan Seacrest will take over the hosting duties on Wheel of Fortune to replace Pat Sajak, who will retire following this season after four decades as host. More data: In syndication, game shows hold five of the top 10 entries for highest ratings. Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, and the weekend versions of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune all ranked in the top 10, according to the most recent data from Nielsen, covering the week of May 29-June 4. | | | |
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| 3 | | Bed Bath & Beyond has selected successful bidders for 109 of its former retail locations following its bankruptcy. Burlington Stores will take over 44 of the locations for $13.53M. More: - Bed Bath & Beyond auctioned off its leases as a part of its bankruptcy proceedings, and Burlington Stores is taking over the largest portion of them.
- Many of the locations are considered "top-notch," according to Bill Read, executive vice president of commercial real estate firm Retail Specialists.
- Michael's is taking over nine leases for $2.55M.
- Haverty is taking over four leases for $468,334.
- Barnes & Noble is taking over a number of stores, including an upscale option in Concord, North Carolina, for $129,015.
- The leases that were auctioned off were for Bed Bath & Beyond and Buy Buy Baby locations.
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| 4 | | Federal prosecutors arrested and charged three men with insider trading relating to a deal to bring former President Donald Trump's media company public. According to the indictment, the men illegally traded on knowledge that was not public that Digital World Acquisition Corporation was buying Trump Media & Technology Group, the owner of the social media platform Truth Social. More: - Michael Shvartsman, Gerald Shvartsman, and Bruce Garelick are charged with making more than $22M off the covert knowledge.
- Garelick served as a director on Digital World's board of directors.
- The indictment states that the men allegedly tipped off friends about the deal, who purchased securities in Digital World.
- Once the deal was announced, the investments soared, and they all then sold their securities for a major profit.
- The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed civil insider trading charges against the three.
- There are no allegations that Trump had any knowledge of the alleged insider trading.
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| 5 | | The U.S. is considering new export controls on chips made for artificial intelligence, aiming to make it more difficult for China to gain access to items with military applications. It would make it harder for companies like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to sell semiconductor chips to China. More: - In October 2022, the U.S. announced new export controls aimed at chips, and the government is considering further steps.
- It would be a significant blow to Nvidia, who responded to the announcement in October by designing graphics processing units (GPU) called the A800 and H800 to replace the chips restricted.
- The A800 and H800 are slower than the chips they replaced, but they are still powering AI research and technology for Chinese tech conglomerates.
- Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent, and more have all recently placed orders for Nvidia chips this year, according to sources.
- Nvidia's CFO Colette Kress said restrictions on selling GPUs to China would result in "a permanent loss of opportunities for the U.S. industry to compete."
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| 6 | | The Southwest Airlines Co. pilots' union appears ready to strike, as it asked the U.S. National Mediation Board to end its oversight of contract negotiations. In a letter to the agency, the union stated that further mediation oversight "will likely not result in any additional agreements." More: - Negotiation talks began over three years ago between the airline and its pilots. A mediator joined the proceedings last September.
- The mediation board will only release the two companies from mediation once it independently determines that negotiations won't lead to an agreement.
- The Railway Labor Act would also require more steps to be taken before the pilots would be allowed on strike if the mediation board ends negotiations.
- Southwest Airlines recently avoided a strike by its mechanics' union by coming to terms.
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- Monster is close to acquiring rival Bang Energy for $362M.
- Joby Aviation received approval to start test-flying its prototype for a flying car.
- Volkswagen replaced the chief executive for Audi.
- Reuters reported that Chinese fast fashion retailer Shein has registered with regulators for an IPO in New York. Shein denies the rumor.
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INSIDE BUSINESS LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | Freelance Editor | | Christopher Hachey is a freelance writer and editor based in the New York City area. He has spent most of the past 15 years in newsrooms covering all kinds of topics like sports, tech, business, finance, and commerce. He's now returning to his broadcast journalism roots by diving into podcasting news. Reach out to him at chris@inside.com | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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