Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos was interviewed this week by Lucas Shaw at Bloomberg’s annual Screentime conference in Los Angeles. The event took place amidst a tumultuous period for Netflix, with the price of the company’s shares having fallen dramatically over the last 12 months. Investors have become concerned about reports of lower viewer engagement, particularly with their original series, and major talent leaving Netflix to work with other studios and platforms. Sarandos sought to address these topics head on, minimizing the negative headlines while emphasizing the new initiatives the company is embracing.
One of the few questions that Shaw asked Sarandos was the slowing engagement on the platform. While Sarandos acknowledged that engagement was “slower than he would like”, he also pointed towards Netflix’s double digit profit growth and suggested “headwinds” like the World Cup as one reason for the lower engagement figures. Sarandos also said that “not all engagement is equal”, citing their live event programming with sports and reality TV series have helped bring in new subscribers and increase advertising sales. Sarandos confirmed that Netflix will be programming more live events, particularly relating to sports.
Sarandos also confirmed that Netflix will be releasing more of their original films theatrically, with Greta Gerwig’s NARNIA and Taika Waititi’s animated CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY both getting a wide theatrical releases next year. He also confirmed the sequel to KPOP DEMON HUNTERS is in the works and will receive a “very broad” theatrical release. Sarandos’ comments are the latest indication that Netflix is warming up to the value of theatrical releasing for their most important features.
