Johnny Depp is in court, and an app most people didn't even know existed is having a great couple of weeks.
Court TV, an app that's just like the channel, is dedicated to streaming normally boring court cases, has seen its downloads grow by a factor of 10. Our estimates show that in the last two weeks, downloads have gone from a little under a thousand per week to almost 10,000 per week in the last two weeks.
The reason? Captain Jack Sparrow is suing his ex-wife for defamation, and the whole thing is streaming on Court TV's app. Unlike the movies, this trial isn't too exciting, but it's got a bunch of celebrities, Johnny Depp, and, more importantly, a glimpse into the life of the rich and the crazy. It's hard to say no to that.
10,000 downloads isn't a lot by any stretch (HBO Max sees that in about an hour), but it's a massive gain for an otherwise unknown app and another reminder that streaming is quite officially main-stream. No pun intended. Well, maybe just a little.
December saw a curious split: downloads dropped 2% while revenue sat at $1.3B. ChatGPT and TikTok dominated both charts as the mobile industry enters a new maturity phase.
Wall Street bet $2 billion on Polymarket, and downloads surged 1,172% in December. The prediction market banned in 2022 is now where Wall Street looks for signals.