The Best One Yet - ✈️ “Living Inheritance” — Multigenerational vacations. The Oscars’ YouTubification. Santa Claus’ $11T biz. +Connecticut’s Hallmark boom.

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

YouTube won the rights to the Oscars… because everyone’s fighting for the Living Room TV.New travel trend? “Cousins Vacations”... Grandparents, parents, & kids spending the inheritance.The business of Santa Clause… we jumped in TBOY-style to Klaus Industries.Plus, the top state for Christmas movies is... CT. $SNTA $CLAS $GOOGBuy tickets to The IPO Tour (our In-Person Offering) TODAYAustin, TX (2/25): https://tickets.austintheatre.org/13274/13275 Arlington, VA (3/11): https://www.arlingtondrafthouse.com/shows/341317 New York, NY (4/8): https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0000637AE43ED0C2Los Angeles, CA (6/3): https://www.squadup.com/events/the-best-one-yet-liveGet your TBOY Yeti Doll gift here: https://tboypod.com/shop/product/economic-support-yeti-doll NEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter OUR 2ND SHOW:Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/NEW LISTENERSFill out our 2 minute survey: https://qualtricsxm88y5r986q.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dp1FDYiJgt6lHy6GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Linkedin (Nick): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/Linkedin (Jack): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It is Thursday, the new Friday, December 18th. And today's pod is the best one yet. Out of all the pods, this is the best one yet. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. But Jack, since it's officially circle back season, why don't you to whip up the calendar for us over there? I love the Yetis know we're up to.

Well, this is our last regular show. Yes. Tomorrow, we're publishing the full interview with the founders of the Savannah Bananas. And then on Monday, we're publishing our annual year-in-review 2025 episode. Monday after that? A surprise, surprise. Because Nick and I were on TV and we're putting that interview right here for you. Do you want to share the channel? Do you want to share the channel? CNN. And then the first Monday in January, we've got our famous predictions pod, our three business wishes for the new year. And we're also picking our two stocks at the air, or as Nick calls them, our stock market resolutions.

So we'll circle back on all that in 2026. But in the meantime, Jack, we got three fantastic stories for today's TV boy. What do we got on the pod? For our first story. And the Oscar goes to YouTube. YouTube. YouTube has taken the TV rights for the Oscars. Because the biggest battle in business right now is your living room TV. For our second story, boomers are spending your inheritance on your vacation. The wildest vacation trend of the year is multi-generational travel.

Grandparents, parents, and kids, they're all on one big trip. And our third and final story, it's an annual T-boy tradition. We're breaking down the business of Santa Claus. Because get this. Clause Industries is actually. an 11 trillion dollar company. But yet he's before we had that wonderful mix of stories. Whoa, what a mix of stories to end the year on, Jack?

Best mix of the year, I gotta say it. Trivia. Yes. What is the number one state where Hallmark movies are filmed? Hint, it ain't Hollywood, it ain't New York, and it ain't La Land either. It's a Jack. It's Connecticut. It turns out Connecticut is the capital of Christmas movies.

Connecticut is the filming location for 22 holiday flicks, according to the Connecticut Tourism Office. Hallmark, Netflix, and Life, have filled 22 different Christmas movies in the nutmeg state. Or is it the Constitution state? I think it's both, actually. It's the pop-collar state. Yeties, in fact, there's even now a trail across the state of Connecticut to see all 22

film sets. The 300-mile Hallmark Movie Trail of Connecticut. It's a bit of a stretch Connecticut Tourism Office, but we'll round up on this one. From Waterbury to Danbury, Hartford to West Hartford, New Canaan to Old Canaan. Mrs. Claus and her filming crew, Jack, they're going to need a second home down in Greenwich. Who said Connecticut only produces iBankers, lax players, and cable-knit sweaters? Because Connecticut's GDP is Hallmark's movie Box Office, baby. By the way, the most famous of those 22 movies?

Yeah, Jack. Not really famous at all, unfortunately. We see you, Mystic Christmas. Yeah, we see you. Two thumbs up. Jack, let's in the three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm.

50%. That's a fat tip. Tea boys. City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, everything is becoming TV. Netflix, YouTube, Instagram, Barstool Sports, podcast. They all announced TV deals just this week.

Cable is dying. iPhones are more alive than ever, but the living room TV is more powerful than them all. Oh, Yeties. Two-letter abbreviation is buzzier these days. What do you think, Jack? Is it AI or is a TV? It might be TV. Because here's the news. Instagram is launching a Reels app for televisions, TikTok-style vertical videos on the big horizontal screen. You can watch Jack's 42-step. Get ready with me on a TV these days instead of your phone. Now, the Instagram TV app is only available on Amazon Fire TV right now, but soon it will come to Apple TV, Roku, and all the other smart TVs. And since it's Marky Mark Zuckerberg behind this, we know Zucks.

playbook. He's going to order the team to copy and paste YouTube's TV app. Basically, he's going to suck YouTube. Speaking of YouTube, Jack, our buddies over at YouTube just got the TV rights to the Oscars starting in 2029. After 50 years of being on ABC, the Academy Awards will be free to watch on YouTube for the whole world in just a couple years. And the Oscar goes to well, it goes to YouTube actually in this case. But Nick, that's not it with TV headlines. Pinterest acquired a TV tech company this week, and LG signed a deal with Microsoft to bring AI to your television. Besties add it all up, and despite the slow death of cable, TV is getting more action than that scene in heated rivalry. Than every scene in heated rivalry, apparently.

iPhones get all the attention, but the most valuable real estate in business right now is your living room TV. But an even bigger TV shift is happening, and it's close to home. Yeah, because it's happening in podcasts. Get this, barstool sports and IHeart Media are joining Netflix for TV. Now, you might not realize this, Yetis, but YouTube is both the number one podcast platform in the country and the number one TV platform. Get this, 12% of all time spent on America's televisions is spent watching YouTube videos. And 33% of podcast listeners say that YouTube is their preferred platform.

In fact, we just hired a guy to help us win on YouTube. We just hired a dude who just does YouTube. So add it all up, YouTube is number one in television, number one in podcasts. You know who hates that? Who hates it, Jack? Netflix. That's right, which is why Netflix just got three top barstool podcasts to close their YouTube and bring their videos exclusively to Netflix next year.

You can still listen to the audio of these barstool shows anywhere, but video you can only watch on Netflix, not on YouTube, starting next year. Plus, Netflix is doing the same thing with 16 Spotify pods and 14 I-heart radio pods. They're promoting them. to the living room TV. YouTube and Netflix, they're the Goliath and Goliath

of the media industry right now. And they're fighting ironically for the David Chang podcast. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies

staring at the living room TV? Why is everything becoming TV? Because to quote a famous bag robber, that's where the money is. Yeah, yeah.

It's like, that's where the money is. You see, Yeties, with the rise of smartphones, it looked like the big screen TV was going to go in the dump someday.

After all, the typical American now spends five hours a day on their phone. Like you are right now listening to us. But the rise of smart TVs, which have the same apps as phones have, actually saved the living room TV. And because of advertising, there's simply more money to be made on a big TV screen

than a small mobile one. According to IAB, advertising on smart TVs and streaming networks are growing faster than advertising on social media. Yeah, big horizontal living room screens are where Mad Men and Legacy ad agencies learn to sell in the first place. Phones get the performance ads.

Yeah, like promo codes? Use T-Boy for 20% off. But TV screens still get the prestige ads, the highly produced ones. Ah, Jack, the ones with the jeeps driving over the boulders. Exactly. So why is everything becoming TV? Because that's still where the money is. That's where the money is.

For our second story, the hottest travel trend right now is being paid for by grandparents. Multi-generational travel reveals a new money concept that we call the living inheritance. A Yeti's odds are, statistically speaking, there is a decent chance you are packing your bags this weekend to travel somewhere for the holidays. The travel industry is living its best life right now. It's looking good out there. Post-pandemic, people are still paying a premium to go to Paris. In hospitality, the U.S. has defied a drop-off in foreign tourists and defied a job slump of white-collar workers. Despite the scare of AI, you're still flying to BVI.

And the average daily room rate in the United States luxury hotels right now, what is it, Jack? A record high $398. Yeah, to sprinkle on some context, that is 22 sweet green salads for one night at a hotel. Down in New York City, the montage, the Amman, these ultra-luxury hotels, their average room rate is $1,500 right now. At these prices, the four seasons is adding a fifth season. Or at least they should. Yeah, they should. But the surprise is who's paying for the current travel boom that's sweeping America right now?

It's your nana. It's your grandparents. Besties, forget dinkations and bachelorette trips. The cornerstone of the hospitality industry right now is multi-generational. Grandparents, parents, and the kids, a whole century of bloodline all in the same cruise line. And Jack and I call this trend the cousins vacations. Full disclosure. Four years in a row, from my ninth birthday to like my 13th,

My Nana paid from all three of my brothers and me, plus my cousins, plus my parents and my aunt and uncle to all go to the Caribbean together. We're still trying to figure out where Jack's Nana's getting all this dough from exactly. She in Vegas these days? How's she doing? Well, let me just say, no pressure, mom and Maria. But if you're listening, you've got to follow Nana's track record here. Apparently Nana bought Nvidia at $2. But yeties, get this.

57% of parents are planning to do a trip this year with grandparents and their own kids. Just like I had when I was a kid. And that's up by two percentage points from two years ago. Oh, you want more evidence? Extended family vacations, which is Travel Weekly's term for Cousins Vacations, are up seven percentage points from just two years ago to an all-time eye. Now, one reason 57% of us parents are planning to take a multi-generational trip this year is the proliferation of Airbnb and VRBO.

They just make group travel easier when you can get the whole house. But Cousins Vacations are a big profit puppy for hotels to. That's right, because according to the Wall Street Journal, you don't just want the two-bedroom suite on a cousin's vacation. You'll want the villa, you'll want the yacht. You and your husband get a king room, the kids get a double queen room, and the parents get the penthouse because they're paying for it all. Yeah, and your sister-in-law definitely needs some space these days. The bigger the room block, the lower the argument risk, Nick. Exactly. But Jack, really, to sprinkle on more context, where have we seen this cousins vacation concept before?

In 1990. Yeah, the McAllister family. The whole plot of Home Alone. is a cousin's vacation. Except today, grandpa's ran in the estate for 12 of you over in Tuscany and no one gets left behind. Come on! Oh, by the way,

the plot of White Lotus season four probably going to have a multi-generational subplot. I don't know about that. It tends to be a no-kids affair at these things. It's a profit puppy. So, Jack, what's the takeaway

for our buddies over in the multi-generational cousin's vacation? Our new favorite financial term is the living inheritance. Yeties, the key detail here, who's paying the hotel tab? Because typically it's the grandparents. Grandparents have likely accumulated a life worth of assets. The car, the house, the watch. And now they're cashing in on experiences.

Typically, they would give away that inheritance after death in the form of stocks, bonds, and real estate. But instead, more and more grandparents are giving away their money earlier to their family in the form of experiential bonding. Basically paid vacations. Exactly. And now, besties, we've talked about the silver tsunami before. the record handover of wealth from boomers that is coming. Well, a new alternative to that money tsunami is the multi-generational vacation. It's an opportunity for families to build bonds that leave a legacy that outlast their money. And it lets us millennials enjoy our parents' wealth while we're still young. And the whole family gets to, you know, enjoy core memories in the Caribbean.

Thank you, Nana. Jack's not going on a podium here, but it's not a bad idea. I think it's a brilliant idea. If you're old and have money, spend it on your kids right now. But Yetis, let us know what you think of the Cousins' Vacations Trends. We're about to go to an ad break, so drop your thoughts in the comments. Now a quick word from our sponsor. Yetis, welcome back.

Our final story, it's a T-Boy annual tradition. Our analysis of the business of Santa Claus. It was a hard year for St. Nick. He had to deal with toy tariffs and trade wars and customs and border control. But you know what? He came out on top. So let's hit it. All right, Yeties, for our third and final story today,

We're actually going to do something special, a little tradition, if you will. Last year, we did a deep dive on Santa's business. And you guys loved it so much. We were like, we got to do this again. It was our favorite story. It was the last story of last year. So it's going to be the last story of this year. Annual tradition, baby.

Let's hit it, Jack. For our third and final story. With the holidays coming up, Jack and I are looking at the business of Santa Claus, or as he calls it, Claws Industries. When your competitive advantage is magic, you have a monopoly. Yeties, twas two weeks before Christmas and all through the condo. All the T-boys were stirring, even the Ford Bronco. So Jack and I are jumping in T-Boy style to the Big Man in Reds business model.

We're jumping in T-boy style to Santa Inc. Or as it's registered legally in Wilmington, Delaware, Clause Industries. Right, Jack? What do we learn about Clause Industries? It's a highly seasonal business. All their sales happen on one day, year. Santa's business is like Spirit Halloween or the Turkey industry, right, Jack? But its sales are even more concentrated on December 25th only. That's the only day they're open for business. Now, Yetis, Jack and I, by complete chance, fortunately got the annual report from Clause Industries.

Thicker symbol, nice. It's traded on the North Pole Stock Exchange. And here is the key competitive advantage to Santa Claus's very own international business. It's the supply chain. It's the supply chain. Santa's supply chain is more important than any other company we've ever covered. And this supply chain happens to also be highly concentrated. It's based exactly at the North Pole. Yeah, they have a massive workforce of elves who build toys in one giant, wonderful factory. Now, we should point out that Father Christmas has never shared sales figures publicly, but Jack and I whipped out the whiteboard for this one.

Yeah, we calculated the sales, the annual revenues of Clause industries. It turns out yet is that 36 countries do not observe Christmas. as a public holiday. But Santa doesn't check passports. So we're going to assume he delivers to all children worldwide. So, Jack, if that's the case, then what's the market size for Santa's business? Well, 25% of the world's population is under 14 years old. That would be 2 billion customers. And we'll assume that Santa delivers one gift to each child worldwide. But Jack, we do have to adjust for the naughty factor, don't we? But the data shows that those numbers are negligible. Yeah, it turns out the naughty factor is actually very negligible. So Yeties, if each

Each gift costs $10 for 2 billion children worldwide. Then that would be $20 billion in sales for Claws Industries all in one day. Now, we should point out, Santa waives the price with a 100% discount, bringing down revenue substantially for Clause Industries. It's basically a buy one, get that same one free policy, Jack. Yeah, and there's also a labor risk this company faces. Right, like, Jack, what if the elves go on strike? Like, that's kind of a problem, right?

I think they're relatively content, though. Besties, Jack and I checked with the Elf Union spokesperson, and apparently they're paid a living wage of gum drops and candy cane. And all the syrup they want. And they get 360 days of vacation. Oh, by the way, this year, don't leave cookies for Santa. Santa's on Ozept. So he's only drinking skim milk this year.

Maybe some mule milk. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies who won't stock in Claws Industries? If Santa could scale his magic, he'd be 11. times bigger than Walmart. All right, yeah, these, follow us on the numbers here. $20 billion of sales in one day. Jack, can we extrapolate Santa's revenues for the entire year? If Christmas were every day, which was my dream every night as a child, it was my dream.

I'll take it. Let's run with it, Jack. Then Clause Industries would generate $7 trillion of revenue each year. Seven trillion dollars in revenue, Jack. Could you sprinkle on some context for us, please, over there? That's 11 times Walmart's annual revenue. He said he's assuming Claws, the toy company, makes the same profit margins as Hasbro the toy company. Then they'd make $511 billion in profits every year.

Sit down, stand up, and sit on our lap again. Yeties, that is five times as much profit as Apple. There you have. If Santa could scale magic, Clause Industries would be 11 Walmarts in size. And Santa would be five times as profitable as Apple. Now, at the very least, Santa, can you launch a second Christmas in July? I mean, if Amazon Prime can do it, so can't Clause Industries? Not even good King Wenceslaus could complain about that.

And that is the annual report on Claws Industries. St. Nick LLC, a registered certified B corporation. Gifts limited to nice children. Gift policy does not apply to children naughty for more than 183 days a year. No reindeer were harmed in the making of this podcast. Jack, could you whip up the take-oist for us for the new Friday? YouTube won the Oscars. Because every tech and media company is pivoting from your phone to your living room TV. Why is everything becoming TV?

To quote that bank robber, because that's where the money is. For our second story, it's the cousins vacation. 57% of parents plan multi-generational trips this coming year, grandparents, parents, and kids. Treating your kids to vacation with the whole fan? That's called the Living Inheritance. And our third and final story is Clause Industries. They could do $11 trillion this year in revenue. in one night with a tea, with a tea.

But instead, they did zero in revenue. And a partridge in a pear tree. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, update on Netflix. Warner Brothers board formally rejected Paramount's acquisition offer of the company. Warner Brothers doesn't believe that Larry Allison has the money to pay for his son's big acquisition splurge.

And they don't believe Allison's connections to Trump will help get the deal approved. They think Netflix's deal is better, but it's actually not the board's decision to make, is it, Nick? It's Warner Brothers shareholders who will vote to decide whether they sell to Netflix or sell to Paramount. Second, venture capital is giving out gifts right before the holidays. Epic fundraisers, actually. Well, the first is Waymo, who's in talks to raise $15 billion for the Robotaxy business. And the second is Open AI, which is in talks with Amazon to raise $10 billion at a $500 billion valuation. It's the slowest time of the year for deals because all the VCs are already skiing in St. Moritz, but already potentially two of the biggest deals of the year.

And finally, to everyone going to a Ralph Lauren-themed Christmas party this weekend, we see you. It's hard not to miss you because Ralph Lauren is the official apparel company of the Winter Olympics and the unofficial apparel company of your Christmas morning now. Pinterest searches for Ralph Lauren Christmas wrapping are up 1,300% this year. For Ralph Lauren Christmas tree, searches are up 3,000%. And Ralph Lauren Christmas Table are up 4th. thousand percent. Ralph Lauren Stocks at an all-time high, and so are the garland vibes. You're going to wear that red ribbon to your holiday party, Jack? With a green sweater.

Yes, I am. Good move, Alex. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one set in by legendary Yetty, John Dutton from lovely Yellowstone, Montana. Trivia, Nick. What's the biggest month of the year for consuming steak? Oh, heyness. What is it? What is it, Jack? December. December. Get this. Omaha Steaks sells a steak every 2.7 seconds this month. That's faster than a cowboy can eat a hamburger. Okay, in fact, Omaha Steaks does 45% of their beef sales business between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve. Holiday parties, celebratory dinners, going out with a filet mignon. Yeah, basically, steaks are a right-off right now.

So, like, beef prices are at all-time highs, but apparently so is demand for beef. I remember the Who's in Whoville. They had roast beast for their Christmas feast. Yes, Jack. I think that beast was beef. Beef, indeed, beef indeed. A roast beast, meat. Meal for all in need.

Yeties, you look fantastic out there. Jack, as we are getting into the final days of the Dradle Rally, can you tell us what is the schedule for the T-Boy holiday? What do we got on the docket? Well, rule number one of the Dreadle Rally is don't mention the Draddle Rally. I forgot, I forgot. Tomorrow we have the full episode with the co-founders of the Savannah Bananas. That's great.

On the Monday after that, before Christmas, we have our year-in-review 2025 episode. Fantastic. And the Monday after that, our guest interview on C-Svada. CNN talking about 2026. And then Jack, to kick off the new year, our best pod of 2026, what do we got? Our three big business wishes, which includes our stock resolutions. So Yeti's H-Y-H-TB-O-Y this holiday season. And Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow. If you know. You know. And before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti Felix Delgado over in Warwick, New York, everyday listener, and the best one yet. Happy birthday to Sebastian Olmo in Mokina, Illinois. Doing logistics. And Dana Allen down in

Rockville Center, Long Island, has got a new job in finance and the best birthday yet. Happy 56th birthday to Chris Jones in Bixby, Oklahoma, a proud father of four. And Nick Copperoo down in Chicago, Illinois, is doing logistics for the big birthday bash. Happy birthday to Kayan Kal Yanker, who's turned 11 in Kerry, North Carolina. And Valerie Sang, also in Carrie, North Carolina, has got a fantastic birthday on the docket. Happy birthday to Whitney in San Antonio, Texas. And a happy ninth birthday. to Yeti Ria Rothera, and fantastic Ann Arbor, Michigan.

And a big shout out to Nick and Alexa Marino in San Francisco, who just had a new baby boy, CJ. Little Max, already teaching little CJ, had a cross check. Congratulations to Erica Warner in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who finished her first semester of law school, go blue. And Leodore also just finished a law school semester over in Boulder. Congratulations to Michelle On, who got into the MBA program at Wharton. She's from Seoul, South Korea, and is soon going to be a fellow alum of Nix.

Michelle, you're going to have a blast and lean Al Ismail down in Katie, Texas, just graduated from the College of Fashion Merchandising. I'm going to see her on the runway. This is Jack. I own stock of Netflix. Nick and I both on stock of Apple and Spotify.