This is Nick. This is Jack. We just got back from our TBOY team trip to LA and here are the highlights:

• Jack had his first Erewhon experience: eggplant lasagne and short ribs.

• Nick thought every other truck was a Rivian.

• Oh and the big news for our pod listeners: TBOY has officially partnered with the Wondery podcast network—the producer of shows like Smartless, WeCrashed, and How I Built This. The most important thing for you to know: the show will not change—same fantastic takeaways, still free for you, and always editorially independent. We are pumped about this partnership that takes us to a new level and super grateful for you listening and helping us get here. Let’s celebrate this win with…the best newsletter yet. 🎙️

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1) The Return of Rerun: Old TV Is Hotter than a Hemsworth

Word broke late Sunday night that the Hollywood Writers’ Strike reached a “tentative deal.” But we know what you've been Netflixing lately: Reruns. While Taylor Swift was cheering on Travis Kelce and the Chiefs, the rest of us were having a hot rerun summer. With no new episodes of Yellowstone to whip up, Hollywood is turning to game shows and reruns. So you better get used to Steve Harvey saying “survey says…”

• The show that’s poppin’ off on Netflix's Top 10 charts? Suits, the 2011 dramedy (with Meghan Markle before she added Duchess of Sussex to her Wiki page). 🎭 The juicy details: Suits slid into Netflix’s programming the same week actors joined the writers’ strike...

• 📺 Proving the big winner of the strike is old TV. 👔 Even Season 2 of Suits on Netflix was in the Top 10 for nine straight weeks.

The Takeaway →

The writers’ strike is hurting TV, but helping everything else. According to a Qloo report, people are watching more reruns but less TV overall during peak strike season. But they are also doing more reading (📕 3x’d since pre-strike) and listening to podcasts (🎤 2x’d since picket lines). People are still consuming content, but just shifted which type of content.

🎥 Update on the strike: Writers and major studios/streamers reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract last night.

2) The Social Media People Actually Pay $$$ for: Snapchat+

Last Thursday, Snapchat announced that it shockingly hit 5M paid users. Devoted chatters are dropping $4/month to maintain their quarter-long Snap-streaks—the ultimate feat. 5M subscribers equates to 2 Chicagos, 6 San Frans, or 12 Miamis.

FYI: Twitter (X), won’t tell us how many Tweeters are paying for Twitter Blue. Not a good sign. According to third-party data, Twitter (X) has about 640K paying subs, or about 12% of Snapchat’s tally.

Here’s how Snapchat+ is crushing it: The subscription is loaded with a whopping 23 bonus features.

• Want to see your view count, restore your snap streak, or customize your emojis? Gotta pay.

• What doesn’t Snapchat+ do? Eliminate ads. 👻

The Takeaway →

Snapchat is a telephone. The rest of social media is a phone book. In 20 countries, Snapchat is used by 90% of people ages 13–24. The reason: Gen Z uses it to communicate (like a telephone), while TikTok and Instagram are for scrolling (like a phone book). And ads aren’t as effective the way Snapchat is used (for messaging) as they are for other social media (for scrolling). That’s why Snapchat is obsessed with subscription, while the rest of social is all about the ads.

3) It’s Prime Time for Colorado’s College Football

The ROI on trash talk: University of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders got shade from the head coach of Colorado State—his team’s biggest rival—for his sunglasses. The best comeback? Beat ’em in double OT and sell $1.2M of the sunglasses in question.

The scoop on Coach Prime: Even though Colorado suffered its first loss this past weekend, the University of Colorado remains the nation's most-talked-about team. We’ll stand by for the highly likely Netflix documentary.

But hype comes with haters. So Deion took the fly road: He bought the infamous Blenders shades for the whole team, an interviewer, and a random fan on the street. Then Deion’s fans (including The Rock) got involved with their credit cards—buying $1.2M of Blenders sunglasses over the weekend of the Colorado State game.

The Takeaway →

The best PR is Personal. There’s a 3-month waitlist for these shades—but the sales surge isn’t just about sunglasses. Amidst all of the Colorado drama, add-to-cart became a demonstration of support for Coach Prime. Because the best PR is personal. 😎

❌ UAW auto workers’ strike expanded to 38 more GM and Chrysler plants, but they didn’t expand the strike against Ford.

💰 Senator Bob Menendez was indicted on bribery charges after a crazy FBI raid. They found half a million in cash, $100K of gold bars, and an illegal Mercedes. That’s it?

🚆 Brightline, the private rail train and Amtrak competitor we covered on the pod, just expanded in Florida with a rail from Miami to Orlando.

⚽ Saudi Crown Prince admits he’s “sportswashing.” If he buys enough sports leagues, he thinks people will view Saudi Arabia in a more flattering light.

🏀 Dartmouth Men’s Basketball team applied to the NLRB to unionize. The labor case that could change the game is set to be heard in November.

📖 Great business leaders are readers. Check out all the companies that started from reading a book.

🎙️ This season’s Super Bowl Halftime Show in Vegas will be headlined by… Usher.

🫶 Moms for hire: for college students. Can you really put a price on a mother’s love?

And one more thing. What do you order at the Erewhon hot-bar?

—Nick & Jack