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By The Numbers

Today in marketing to Millennials: Disney’s news site

Tony Wagner May 26, 2015
$55 billion

That’s the value of the deal in which Charter will merge with Time Warner Cable, as announced Tuesday morning. That puts the valuation of Time Warner Cable at almost $79 billion, and brings the companies’ combined customer base to 24 million. Charter also bought Bright House Networks, a smaller company, whose numbers figure into the customer base totals.

20,000

That’s how many drivers Uber is adding each month, according to a company report cited in the Wall Street Journal. In his WSJ column, Christopher Mims picks apart the so-called “sharing economy” – which has become something of a misnomer – and its murky relationship with employees. Or are they partners?

$30 million

That’s the latest cash infusion news organization Fusion got from its corporate parent Disney, the New York Times reported. Fusion is both a cable network and a website, and one of several well-funded news outfits going after millennials. But it’s not an easy road. The Times notes that despite some big hires, Fusion is doing modest numbers and its coverage of last year’s Sony hack rankled its corporate overlords.

$84 million

That’s how much was spent within the military last year in food stamps. Veterans are using food stamps too – 7 percent of them in 2012. The issue brings up interesting questions around military pay: when someone’s pay is already publicly funded, does it matter if they draw on other publicly funded assistance as well?

43 states

That’s how many states allow for prisoners to be charged by the prison system for “room and board,” in what is known as “pay-to-stay.” Over at Vox, there’s a closer look at the widespread practice that often hits families of the incarcerated especially hard.

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