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By The Numbers

It’s the final countdown…to elections

Tony Wagner and Beidi Zhang Apr 13, 2015
More than 70

That’s how many video game companies are headquartered in Atlanta. Eight years ago, there were just six. Thanks to a bill that renewed Georgia’s tax credit for video game companies, the state can expect more gamers to relocate to the metro-Atlanta area. More and more gaming conventions are held in Atlanta, in addition to a lot of local talent from technical schools. 

$200 million

That’s the revenues Etsy generated in 2014, a jump of about 56 percent from the year before, according to SEC filings. The online retail platform is going pubic this week. To raise cash from this week’s IPO, Etsy is reportedly eyeing smaller, individual investors. 

$153 billion

A new report out Monday by the UC Berkeley Labor Center looks at the amount of money state and federal taxpayers spend on public assistance programs for low wage workers between 2009 and 2011 they cost nearly $153 billion per year, more than half of the total spent on public assistance. While the purpose of the social safety net to help low income families get by, the worry is that employers may be building their pay structure around this taxpayer support.  

575

The number of days to the 2016 presidential election. Hillary Clinton officially threw her hat in the ring Sunday, though to many, she’s long been considered the inevitable Democratic nominee and even winner. Some measures this out, the Upshot notes, with Clinton polling about 20 points higher than she was at this time in 2008. That said, she’s still facing several challenges and, of course, there’s a lot of time left.

31.4 million

That’s how many subscribers HBO had at the end of last year, according to SNL Kagan. That’s a very solid customer base, but it’s been overtaken by Netflix and new streaming competitors are popping up each day. The network’s bid for cord-cutters, HBO Now, launched Sunday night, and the New York Times profiled chief executive Richard Plepler for the occasion. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal talked to the head of HBO-owning Time Warner, Jeff Bewkes, about pivoting a huge media conglomerate toward cord-cutters without alienating cable providers.

957,000

That’s how many people ordered an Apple Watch in the U.S. when they went on sale Friday, according to projections from e-commerce intelligence firm Slice. Quartz notes the average Watch buyer paid about $504, and 62 percent opted for the cheaper, Sport model. There are a lot of different bands to choose from, but Slice projects a whopping 49 percent of first-day orders were for the black rubber “sport band.”

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