*By Conor White*
One of Netflix's most beloved features may also be a reason the service is losing viewers, at least in the short term. That's according to Alan Wolk, co-founder at media research firm TV{R}ev.
In an interview Tuesday on Cheddar, Wolk pointed to FOMO ー or in Netflix's case, the lack thereof ー for subscribers.
"If all your friends are watching 'Westworld', then you might think, 'Hey, I want to watch this too, even if this other show on Netflix might be slightly better targeted to me,'" he said.
Netflix is [expected to spend](https://www.indiewire.com/2018/07/netflix-original-content-spending-13-billion-1201981599/) as much as $13 billion in 2018 on original content ー some of that could go towards the next "Stranger Things" or "The Crown", but much will likely create super-niche offerings that don't attract broad audiences.
And unlike broadcast or cable, all of Netflix's content ー whether it has a broad appeal or not ー is available to stream at any time, so there isn't necessarily a sense of urgency for viewers to watch right away.
That might be part of the reason the company added 600,000 fewer subscribers in its latest quarter than analysts were expecting. Shares [dropped](https://www.barrons.com/articles/netflix-earnings-stock-tanks-on-weak-subscriber-adds-1531772206) roughly 14 percent after the company reported its second quarter results. It also faces stiff competition from the likes of Amazon, Hulu, and [maybe Walmart](https://cheddar.com/videos/walmart-gets-serious-about-streaming) in the coming years.
Wolk said the spend-on-original-content strategy is a risky one.
"It's a big ask for people to invest in a brand new show," he said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/dc-enters-streaming-fray).
Darden, the parent company of chain restaurants like Olive Garden and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, beat Wall Street estimates in its latest earnings report.
A former Facebook executive pled guilty to stealing more than $4 million from the company while she was employed there.
Rising safety concerns over water bead products marketed to kids have prompted major retailers like Amazon, Target and Walmart to pull some toys off their shelves.
The Congressional Budget Office said Friday it expects inflation to nearly hit the Federal Reserve's 2% target rate in 2024, as overall growth is expected to slow and unemployment is expected to rise into 2025, according to updated economic projections for the next two years.
Intel is out with a new product to challenge other big players in the space like Nvidia and AMD.
Stocks fell after the opening bell Friday but will end on another positive week.
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Americans picked up their spending from October to November as the unofficial holiday season kicked off, underscoring that shoppers still have power to keep buying.
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate dropped below 7% to its lowest level since early August, another boost for prospective homebuyers who have largely been held back by sharply higher borrowing costs and heightened competition for relatively few homes for sale.
Mortgage rates have dropped below 7% for the first time since the middle of August.
