Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos Talks Disney Succession, Gen AI

When Ted Sarandos speaks, the leisure business listens, so when the Netflix co-CEO sat for a fireplace chat with Wall Road Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker on the WSJ Tech convention Tuesday, there could be no scarcity of Hollywood observers able to learn Ted’s tea leaves.

Sarandos, nevertheless, didn’t give an excessive amount of for them to chew on. The chief mentioned Netflix’s strategy to generative synthetic intelligence, reside sports activities and occasions, promoting, video games, and different areas properly lined by final week’s quarterly earnings report.

He additionally, nevertheless, was requested in regards to the different massive leisure business story of the week: Disney’s succession drama, with James Gorman taking over the function of chairman subsequent 12 months, with Bob Iger’s successor prime of thoughts.

Would Sarandos take Gorman’s name if he reached out in regards to the job? “It’s not even on my thoughts,” Sarandos mentioned.

However would Netflix’s co-CEO mannequin work at an organization like Disney?

“It’s onerous for me to suggest this system to a different firm the place I don’t actually perceive their enterprise, and in flip their enterprise tradition,” Sarandos mentioned. “I perceive their enterprise fairly properly, however not their enterprise tradition.”

“[Netflix founder Reed Hastings] informed me he was going to create an organization that was going to be round manner after him, so succession was on his thoughts in 1999; and I feel it was on his thoughts 10 years in the past when he and I began extra working the enterprise collectively; And I feel it was on his thoughts three, possibly 5 years in the past after we formally named me co-CEO,” he continued. “I feel within the evolution of Reed changing into our govt chair, we had the time to show out the mannequin that for this firm, for Netflix, the co-CEO mannequin, works uniquely properly.”

Sarandos additionally reiterated that on the subject of the corporate buying extra reside sports activities: “By no means say by no means, however I might say that proper now we’re within the reside occasions enterprise,” he mentioned. “There’s one thing very attention-grabbing and really thrilling about when the world comes collectively to look at the identical factor on the identical time. They don’t do it fairly often. That’s what makes it so particular.”

“I feel the leagues do an exceptional job of constructing fandom, and for that, they get to maintain all the cash, and distribution’s a reasonably low margin enterprise for full season league sports activities, I do assume if we are able to add some worth again to them, which I feel we do uniquely, we are able to make that work,” he added.

And on the subject of utilizing generative AI, Sarandos mentioned that he expects the tech to have a “profound impression” on the product, he was much less sure about its affect on content material.

“I feel the web will probably be moved by that Gen AI to assist issues which are already working work higher,” he mentioned. “So I feel that features selecting and merchandising and UI creation.”

“I take a look at Gen AI as a device for creators to create content material, not for Netflix to create as a substitute of creators,” he mentioned. “So I really feel like there are alternatives if it passes the large take a look at, which is, can using this device make a greater present, then will probably be actually transformative and be useful. But when it doesn’t, I feel it’s going to be a part of someplace within the hype cycle of what it’s proper now.”

And whereas Netflix can also be within the promoting enterprise, the gaming enterprise, and the reside experiences enterprise, Sarandos mentioned that one space that it doesn’t anticipate to compete is within the user-generated content material enterprise, the place YouTube and TikTok dominate.

“In some methods, it’s going to be a coaching floor for storytellers and creators, which is nice. In different methods, it’s a manner that individuals kill time,” he mentioned. “I do assume killing time and spending time are two totally different actions, and you’ll watch out to not get too distracted by chasing all the pieces that persons are doing. I feel that loads of what’s occurring on social media and thru person generated is attention-grabbing and thrilling.

“I take a look at the monetization mannequin, it isn’t potential to do one thing on the scope and scale that we do on Netflix by that mannequin, this doesn’t monetize properly sufficient to do this, and the creators have gotten to place up all their very own cash to do this,” he added. “So I feel it’s the mannequin itself is self limiting what the content material might be. We’re in two totally different arenas by way of programming in that manner, however it’s a manner that individuals spend time on TV. So I do take note of it, in fact.”