Trump Media Enters Streaming Market With Truth Social TV Service Announcement
DEBARYLIFE – On Tuesday, Trump Media & Technology Group revealed its intentions to launch a streaming TV service that will provide movies, TV shows, and other programming that it says other media companies won’t carry.
Three weeks have passed since Trump Media started trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange, briefly raising the company’s valuation to $10.8 billion. The stock, traded under the initials DJT, which stands for former President Donald Trump, peaked on March 26 at $79.38 a share. Since then, it has fallen by nearly 70%.
Trump Media shares fell $3.29, or 12.4%, to $23.32 in early afternoon trade on Tuesday as the decline persisted. Right now, its market worth is estimated to be $3.1 billion.
Truth Social, the social media site that Trump founded in 2022 after being banned from major platforms after the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, is the main asset of Trump Media. The company’s goal from the beginning was to establish a “media powerhouse” with a variety of platforms, such as social media and digital streaming. But up until today, the business has only released Truth Social.
The money-losing company’s finances have been strengthened by going public; earlier this month, Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes told Fox Business that the company has “$200 million in the bank” to support its objectives.
Building an audience will be essential to creating a significant media company, which may then persuade sponsors to part with their cash. While Trump Media does not release its user count, web analytics company Similarweb estimates that in February, the service had 494,000 monthly active users, compared to 142 million for Facebook and 75 million for X (previously known as Twitter).
This could help to explain why Trump Media lost $58 million last year despite making $4.1 million in revenue, or roughly half the amount of money a typical single Chick-fil-A site would make in a year. Advertisers on Truth Social recently include Patriots for America, an organization pushing Trump caps, and USA Gear, which sells hoodies with the American flag.
A request for comment was not immediately answered by Trump Media.
Trump’s Intentions For Streaming
According to Trump Media, the streaming TV service would launch on the Truth Social app first before later coming to streaming on TVs at home. A release schedule was not given by the company.
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Nunes, a former Republican congressman from California, stated, “There is a lot of great content that simply can’t find an audience for unjust reasons, and we want to let these creators know they’ll soon have a guaranteed platform where they won’t be cancelled [sic].”
The business stated that its television programming will feature “news networks, religious channels, family-friendly content including films and documentaries; and other content that has been cancelled, is at risk of cancellation, or is being suppressed on other platforms and services.”
Indeed, there are existing conservative television networks, such as Christian Broadcast Network (CBN), the network that hosts the 700 Club, and One America News Network (OANN). And after splitting from Fox News last year, conservative pundit Tucker Carlson launched his network, Tucker Carlson Network.
Declining Value of Stocks
In the meantime, the publicly traded stock of Trump Media, one of its primary assets, keeps declining in value. That’s significant because secondary stock sales are one way for a publicly traded corporation to generate more funding. If the value of its shares declines, it may find it more difficult to raise capital on the open market.
SEE MORE: Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes Evades Inquiry on Profitability of Truth Social, What True Is!
Following the filing of a regulatory document that permits the future sale of millions more shares, Trump Media’s stock fell 18.4% on Monday. The document, known as an S-1, is about shares held by corporate insiders and investors’ warrants that may be converted into stock.
The value of the former president’s 57% interest in his media company, which peaked at $6.3 billion in stock, dropped to $1.8 billion on Tuesday afternoon.
In a research report dated April 15, Ben Emons, senior portfolio manager at NewEdge Wealth, stated that there is a chance for Trump Media’s shares to drop even more. The share price may drop to $17.50, he claimed, given the price of the warrants, which grant their holders the right to purchase the stock at a specific price, has dropped 43% from its peak on March 26.
“There is plenty of opportunity for the DJT stock price to recover, but it likely goes down first,” Emons stated.