🍿 Netflix’s sneak-peek strategy

Sneak previews get serious… If you hate the ending of Netflix’s next show, you might be able to change it. Netflix reportedly plans to expand its Preview Club, which lets viewers watch shows and movies early if they provide detailed feedback. The club has 2K members, but Netflix could expand it to tens of thousands by early next year.

• “We take your feedback seriously”: Netflix launched the club over a year ago, and it’s used viewer feedback to update several original movies and shows.
• Data-driven do-overs: Netflix said it added more humor to the Leo DiCaprio flick “Don’t Look Up” after viewers deemed it too serious and changed “The Sandman” after noticing that few finished the series.

Preview and review… For decades studios have screened movies to “test audiences” to predict how well they’ll perform. But Netflix is notorious for using data to make decisions (think: recommendation algos), though critics say data shouldn’t determine which IP to acquire or which shows to renew. Now it’s expanding Preview Club to boost engagement (this year it posted two consecutive quarters of subscriber losses for the first time).

• Not just Netflix: Amazon uses an “Amazon Preview” program to gather feedback on its original content, and Disney has a similar “Hulu Brain Trust.”

Looking for the oil cap… not the one for your car. EU countries have been struggling to agree on a price cap for Russian oil. Refresher: back in June, the 27 EU nations agreed to ban purchases of Russian oil starting on December 5. The goal was to slash Russia’s oil revenues, which are fueling its war on Ukraine. But the oil-ban plan was scrapped over concerns it would send global crude prices soaring, since Russia is a top exporter. Now:

• The US is pressuring the EU to agree on a cap, which would set a max purchasing price on Russian oil, meaning G-7 countries would end up buying it at a lower price (still hurting Russia’s coffers, but not as much as a ban).
• This week, a proposal suggested a $62/barrel limit. But Poland, Estonia, and Lithuania knocked it down, arguing it was too high to dent Russia’s income.
• Yesterday, EU governments reportedly agreed to a $60 cap, with a provision to adjust it to 5% below the current market price. But it needs to be formally approved.

Cap it off… The cap would make it really hard for Russia to sell oil at a higher price, since the world’s key shipping and insurance companies are headquartered in G7 countries — which could block those companies from handling Russian crude shipments if they violate the cap. But it’s not as simple as that:

• No cap: Russia has repeatedly said it won’t sell oil to countries who implement a price cap. That could wreak havoc on global supply and spike prices.
• Wild card: The cap can be successful only if China and India agree to support it, since they buy the bulk of Russian oil.

• 🤔 Sus… Sam Bankman-Fried has been on a press tour, giving two interviews where he talked about the collapse of FTX and said he "did not try to commit fraud on anyone." Meanwhile, authorities say a prison sentence is possible for the former CEO.
• 📱 Techy… Coinbase removed users' ability to send NFTs through its iOS app, saying Apple blocked its latest app release until it disabled the feature. The sticking point: Apple’s 30% “app tax,” which Coinbase says won't work with NFT gas fees.
• 🌶️ Spicy… The Senate grilled Rostin Behnam, chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, over FTX's bankruptcy and pending crypto regulation. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for stricter crypto oversight, citing (you guessed it) FTX.

• Freight: The Senate passed bipartisan legislation to avert a nationwide rail strike that could’ve wreaked havoc on US deliveries during the holidays. The tentative agreement is being sent to the president to sign.
• Testruck: Tesla is moving beyond passenger cars: the EV icon delivered its first all-electric semi (dubbed “Semi”) to Pepsi, five years after Elon Musk announced the concept.
• ESGone: Florida's CFO (yes, it has a CFO) said the state would yank $2B from BlackRock's management. Officials said they’re opposed to BlackRock’s environmental, social, and corporate governance investing policies.
• Cartful: Party in aisle four? Kroger's quarterly sales beat expectations, and the grocery chain raised its annual forecast as prices for must-haves like eggs and milk stay elevated.
• Brainy: Musk said that his company Neuralink could start testing its brain-implant tech on humans in six months (think: connecting your brain to a computer). But experts questioned the biz's progress.

• November jobs report released
• Earnings expected from Cracker Barrel

Authors of this Snacks own: shares of Amazon, Apple, Disney, Netflix, and Tesla

ID: 2619873