Advanced Television

Netflix: We are content’s friend

January 26, 2011

Netflix is the content business’s friend. That was the message from the company’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos, speaking at NATPE.

He characterised Netflix’s relationship with studios as “very strong,” and Sarandos acknowledged there is “a lot of anxiety” about the dramatic shifts in customer demand for more on-demand viewing and the question of how to monetise that viewership. He said Netflix as a “model around time-shifted content people are willing to pay for.”

He contended that Netflix is a complement to all forms of TV-including HBO, which has been critical of Netflix and doesn’t provide them with content. He called HBO the “gold standard” for premium subscription TV. “Their strategy is about exclusivity and I respect that,” he said. “Them being a great seller and us being a big buyer, we’ll eventually find a way to do business that is great for both of us.”

Sarandos also weighed in on other big issues of the day, shooting down the notion that on-demand services such as Netflix contribute to “cord-cutting” and stating that he sees net neutrality as something of a market problem for which there are market solutions.

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