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Thank you for being here. Welcome back
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to the Time 100. You are one of very few
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leaders who have been on this list
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multiple times. So, congratulations to
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you. It's an honor. An honor. Um, but on
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that cheery note, things do not look so
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good in the entertainment industry. Uh,
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the box office is down. The LA film
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business is shaky. People are out of
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work. Your competitor's market share is
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sinking. But Netflix business is
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thriving. Um, have you destroyed
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Hollywood? No, we're saving Hollywood.
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You're saving Hollywood. Yeah. I look uh
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what's a big difference of everything
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you just listed there is that Netflix is
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a very consumerfocused company. We
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really do care that we deliver the
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programming to you in a way you want to
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watch it that it's programming that you
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love and desire. So we don't let you
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know a lot of other outside forces get
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in the way of that. So an example I
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think is you mentioned the box office
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being down. Just by way of example, what
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does that say? What is the consumer
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trying to tell us? Right. That they'd
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like to watch movies at home. Thank you.
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Uh, and the studios and the theat and
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the theaters are, you know, duking it
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out over trying to preserve this 45day
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window that is completely out of step
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with the consumer experience of just
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loving a movie. But you don't just work
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with consumers, you work with creators.
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Um, and sometimes they want to put their
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films in movie theaters. Um, Daniel
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Craig wants Knives Out 3 in theaters.
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Greta Gerwig convinced you to release
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her upcoming Narnia movie in theaters.
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Uh, when do you decide just to give in
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to someone? Uh look at that we have
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these bespoke releases basically but for
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a movie to come out that we'll try to
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you know we have to do some
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qualification for the Oscars. So they
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have to run for a little bit. Um it
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helps with the press cycle a little bit
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because the press likes to talk about
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movies in theaters too. Um but you know
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I try to encourage them every director
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we work with to focus on the consumer
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focus on the fans. Make a movie that
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they love and they will reward you. Um
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and that's that. But in general there's
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I also realize that we're in a period of
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transition. Uh, folks grew up thinking,
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I want to make movies on a gigantic
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screen and have strangers watch them and
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play for the in the theaters for two
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months and people cry and sold out
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shows. It just doesn't happen very much.
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It's outdated. It's an outdated. So,
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when someone gets up at the Oscars and
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says, "We need to make movies for movie
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theaters for the communal experience."
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That That's just an outmoded idea. I
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believe it is an outmoted idea for most
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people. Not for everybody. There's a
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there are people if if you're fortunate
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enough to live in Manhattan and you can
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walk to a multiplex and see a movie,
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that's fantastic. Most of the country
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cannot. You love movies. I do and I love
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theaters. That's the irony. Does that
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bother you? No. It just it just feel to
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me like if if what would really bother
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me if people stop making great movies
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and I think if we get trapped behind
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this way of how people if we want people
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to watch them the way we want them to
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watch them versus how they want to watch
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them, then people won't be able to make
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movies anymore because there won't be a
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business for it. So like the Paris
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Theater here in New York, um it was the
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it's the last single screen theater in
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Manhattan. It was about to become a
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Walgreens. Uh, and we saved it. Uh, and
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we didn't save it to save the theater
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go, you know, business. We bought we
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saved it to save the theater experience.
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Are Trump's economic policies good for
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Netflix? Um, I it's all remains to be
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seen. It's we're early. We're early
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days. I think um the uh not just
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disproportionately good or bad. I think
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we are interestingly a global and local
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business. So, uh, our business, our
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primary spending on programming, on
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employees, on infrastructure is in the
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US, but we're an enormous producer of
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programming around the world. So, $6
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billion of programming uh in the in the
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UK. Um, we've got out a we've got uh we
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just announced a billion dollars of
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spending in Mexico. Uh, we just spent a
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billion a million dollars restoring the
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uh cinema techch in Brazil. Uh so we've
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had a very large uh influence on uh an
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impact on the local economy and local
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cultures around the world beyond the US
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as well. But you said earlier today that
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the entertainment industry gets thrown
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under the bus in trade deals. Was that
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you aligning with the president's moves
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on tariffs? No, what I was saying is is
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that in trade in trade deals pre
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pre-Donald Trump the um we have we'll
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have a trade a free trade agreement with
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a country and then that country then has
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a cultural uh exception for
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entertainment or they have a minimum
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investment obligation uniquely on
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entertainment and what I was saying is
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that it's often that the entertainment
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industry doesn't get treated like a real
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business and and that's one of the
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examples of it. Um we have a free trade
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agreement with Australia. Australia um
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wants to instill a minimum investment
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obligation and some cultural exceptions
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on top of that deal after the deal's
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already done. And the inclination of the
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administrations all administrations is
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typically to say okay and let that go.
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But we're a real industry. We
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contributed $125 billion to the US
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economy uh since between 2020 2024. So
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it it is we're 140,000 production jobs
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we created in that period of time. It's
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a real industry and sometimes we need
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some protecting tool. Do do you think
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about you talk about being focused on
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the consumer? Do you think about the
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Trump voter as a consumer? Do you worry
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that Netflix is not creating enough
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programming to appeal to that audience?
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No, I think um we make programming for
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all sensibilities. It's been a part of
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the success of the company as well. We
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try not to have a show that you would
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define as a Netflix show. Um we want it
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to be your favorite show and our brand
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is really personalization. So um we have
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found is that the typical watcher will
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watch across six different genres all
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the time. So you no one's watching kind
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of one thing just because they voted for
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one person or thought one one thought.
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Uh people want to be entertained and
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some it's not it's not unusual for
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someone to like uh Bridgetgerton and
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Monday Night Raw wrestling. Sure. In
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fact, we just did a we just hosted a uh
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a brunch for for WWE in Las Vegas for
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Monday Night Raw and we had a chamber
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group there playing chamber music from
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Bridgetton and nice crossover moment.
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Yeah. The the world is fascinating. Yes,
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it is. Yes, it is. We are We are
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interesting creatures. Is part of your
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interest in video podcasts which you
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mentioned recently an effort to put
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people like Joe Rogan on the platform?
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No. Uh what it is is I think there's
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just all kinds of new things that happen
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like podcasting is becoming much more
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video forward. Um and people are
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watching podcast on their television on
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all kinds of different apps on
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television. So and I think what's
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happened is accelerated the lines being
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blurred between what's a talk show and
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what's a podcast. Um and so and people
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seem to really like them and enjoy them
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and we're try always looking for what is
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the media that people are looking for
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that we could bring value to and video
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podcasting could be one of them on that
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you're creating um an increasing amount
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of international content y um that you
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create and that you license looks like
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Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery
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are doing the opposite. Why are you
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choosing separate paths? Um we've are
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started early on and we've always I met
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Reed Hastings the founder of the company
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in 1999. He described Netflix almost
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exactly like it is right now. Um now not
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the original programming part but the
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global part and that the internet would
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mean that there wasn't any limitations
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of a cable wire or satellite you know
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dimensions and that the internet would
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enable truly global distribution and
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Netflix would be a truly global company.
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So for us we always looked at that and
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said okay well we're about 5% of the
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world's population and about 80% of
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what's getting watched around the world
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is from America. Is that is that
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natural? Is that just a taste thing? Are
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we good better at this than everybody
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else? And then when you get into these
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markets, you understand that most of the
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watching is very local, hyper local
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actually. Uh but sometimes the markets
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are small, so there's not enough
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production scale to tell great stories
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even to their own in their in their own
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uh markets. So for us, we've been able
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to bring global scale to that those
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operations. So that when a show really
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works and it uniquely only works when
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it's authentically local. So you can't
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reverse engineer a global anything from
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anywhere. But if you tell a really great
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local story, it will travel around the
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world. People will see something in it
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that's familiar to them that is very
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unintuitive on the surface that Squid
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Game would be the most watched show in
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the world and the most watched show in
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Netflix history. But very Korean show,
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not
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compromised in any way for that to
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happen. What country outside the United
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States is the most important one for
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you? It's I mean they're all it's based
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on size of television market. So is
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there one you're going to prioritize
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that you're No we really we have teams
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around the world focused in those
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markets and to them that is the most
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important market. Um how many of you
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here subscribe to Netflix?
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There we go. Um you stopped counting the
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number of subscribers. Thank you. Thank
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you. Thank you. Uh you stopped putting
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out subscription numbers. Yes. Um if
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subscriber numbers are no longer the
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most important metric. Although by a
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show of hands you're doing fine. Um what
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is the most important number for you? Uh
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engagement, revenue, profit. So we
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basically they all are tied to what we
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internally call the four C's. So
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basically when we have a pretty
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complicated business uh the the
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technical deliverable of putting content
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around the world on the internet on
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thousands of different devices uh in
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home in places that have varying degrees
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of internet speed all these things. It's
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very it's very technically difficult.
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It's very creatively difficult to serve
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taste in every culture and every
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language. Um, and so when you're in a
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complicated world, you want to try to
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make things simple for the folks doing
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it. And for us, it was boiling it down
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to four C's. And it was uh content first
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and foremost, which is we have to make
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the shows that people really love. Um,
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choosing, which is in a world of
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thousands and thousands of choices, uh,
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how to find something becomes really
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valued. So the technology that goes into
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helping people find things, the
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recommendation engine, the merchandising
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that puts the most logical thing next to
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the most logical thing is really
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important. Um conversation, uh which is
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kind of marketing and publicity and
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getting the world talking about the
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shows that they're watching, getting
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them so excited that they want to talk
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about it. Uh and then the fourth is that
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we added later was commerce, which was
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if you do all three of these well, then
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the commerce part comes. You have to
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make sure you're priced accordingly. So
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um for me it's like taking something
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very very complex and boiling it down
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and putting the customer in the at the
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center of it. Part of the evolution of
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and that's by the way that's go back to
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what I was saying it was a engagement
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revenue profit that all comes by
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pleasing people. You have to please and
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we're oneclick cancel by the way. So all
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of the all these folks who raised their
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hand as soon as they were unhappy they
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could have just clicked one time and
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been and left. A new group that you're
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trying to please is advertisers. That's
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an evolution in your business. You've
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moved in to be a player in the
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advertising space. when the economy is
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not good, we tend to worry about
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advertising. How concerned are you about
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advertising for your business this year
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and also for global media? Well, we are
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primarily a subscription re you know
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service and our uh advertising basically
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enables us to offer a cheaper product
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for folks who may want that or folks who
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may need that. Um for for the longest
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time we counterpositioned against
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advertising uh because it was an
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interesting way to come in against TV
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which was if you don't like ads we don't
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have no ads. if you don't want to wait
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till next week for an episode, we drop
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all of our shows at once. So, it was all
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a classic kind of counterposition. We
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also always fancied oursel a choice
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company. So, um giving consumers as much
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choice as they can how and what they
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want to watch. And then we realized
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later that we were not giving this
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choice, which was if you want a lower
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price and you don't mind ads, then
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here's that option. So, we open that up.
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And I'd say, you know, but we will be,
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you know, for the long haul, we'll be
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primarily a subscription revenue
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service. You you've been at Netflix for
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25 years. Yeah. Um that's too long to be
00:11:29
at any one company. Uh you bringing out
00:11:33
the big check now. Good night everybody.
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It's funny. We we we're doing very well
00:11:38
at time but we can't afford TED. Um but
00:11:41
two places it could. So in your next
00:11:42
job, would you rather run Saturday Night
00:11:45
Live or Disney? Oh, Saturday Night Live
00:11:47
for sure. Okay. Well then who should
00:11:50
replace Bob Iger?
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I have no idea. I have no idea. Um,
00:11:56
famously when streaming arrived at
00:11:57
Netflix, you stopped inviting the DVD
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employees to meetings. Yeah, that was
00:12:02
me. Apologies to them. Um, what is the
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next team at Netflix that will not be
00:12:06
invited to the meetings?
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You must know. I mean, well, look, I put
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Let me tell you though, to be honest
00:12:15
with you, when we we when we started
00:12:17
this, we we looked at the DVD as a
00:12:20
bridge to streaming. streaming was too
00:12:22
the internet was too expensive and too
00:12:24
slow to deliver content at the time we
00:12:26
started the business and the cheapest
00:12:28
fastest way to move bits from one part
00:12:31
of the country to another part of the
00:12:32
country was to put them on a disc and
00:12:34
mail them. So we always looked at that
00:12:36
as a bridge so that we that at someday
00:12:38
now of course it got so big and popular
00:12:40
that we said when we started streaming
00:12:42
don't mess with the DVD business it's
00:12:43
all the profit and all the revenue and
00:12:45
then as soon as it the the streaming
00:12:47
started to catch fire we said that is
00:12:49
holding us back from getting to the
00:12:51
promised land which was streaming so
00:12:53
don't don't worry about the DVD business
00:12:55
in fact and you had to keep de
00:12:57
deprioritizing till we got all the way
00:12:58
to the point where we said the DVD
00:13:00
employees can't come to the company
00:13:01
meeting anymore but that was seen in the
00:13:04
be from the beginning. I don't there's
00:13:06
nobody in right now who's doing anything
00:13:07
in Netflix that I see that not right
00:13:09
now. Okay, trust you. Um so the the the
00:13:14
headline here that I'm hearing um that
00:13:16
that Tina Fey, Seth Myers, Jimmy Fallon
00:13:18
have competition when it comes to the
00:13:20
next showrunner for SNL. Um they could
00:13:23
they will rest easy tonight. They will
00:13:25
rest easy tonight. Okay. Um we're last
00:13:28
question. We're sitting in a building
00:13:30
that was once called the Time Warner
00:13:31
Center. Uh, in 2010, Jeff Bucus, the CEO
00:13:34
of Time Warner, dismissed the possible
00:13:36
dominance of Netflix, saying, "It's a
00:13:38
bit like, is the Albanian army going to
00:13:41
take over the world?" Um, what would you
00:13:44
say to Jeff Buucas today? I would say it
00:13:46
in Albanian if I
00:13:51
could.
00:13:53
But if if Jeff knew what a motivator
00:13:56
that that comment was, he wouldn't have
00:13:58
said it. But it we the very first
00:14:01
meeting after that we all we had berets
00:14:03
and dog tags and we were the Albian
00:14:04
army. So
00:14:07
well we know how that story ended. Ted
00:14:08
Sarandos, thank you so much for being
00:14:10
here. Thank you.
