Ted Sarandos wants investors (and regulators!) to know: Netflix is facing more competition than ever, and the competition is only getting more fierce.
It’s a message that appears honed for battle, should regulators in the U.S. or Europe try to fight the company’s $83 billion deal for Warner Bros.
“The TV landscape, in fact, has never been more competitive than it is today. There’s never been more competition for creators, for consumer attention, for advertising and subscription dollars,” Sarandos said on Netflix’s earnings call. “The competitive lines around TV consumption are already blurring as a number of services put their content on both the linear channels and the streaming services at the same time, and more platforms are making their way into the TV in your living room.
“TV is not what we grew up on. TV is now just about everything,” he added. “The Oscars and the NFL are on YouTube. Networks are simulcasting the Super Bowl on linear TV and streaming. Amazon owns MGM, Apple is competing for Emmys and Oscars, and Instagram is coming next.”
Last month, as The Hollywood Reporter noted at the time, Instagram launched a new Reels app for TV sets, pushing into a crowded advertising market. (Reels already has a $50 billion run-rate advertising business, underscoring its strength in the space.)
“YouTube is not just UGC and cat videos anymore. YouTube has full-length films, new episodes of scripted and unscripted TV shows. They have NFL football games. They have the Oscars. The BBC is going to be producing original content for YouTube soon. They are TV,” Sarandos said Tuesday. “So we all compete with them in every dimension, for talent, for ad dollars, for subscription dollars, and for all forms of content.
“More broadly, we compete for people’s attention across an even wider set of options that include streaming, broadcast, cable, gaming, social media, big tech video platforms,” he continued. “Our deal strengthens the marketplace and it ensures healthy competition that will benefit consumers and protect and create jobs. That’s why we’re confident in the approval.”
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