Paramount “did a great job of creating a big narrative about a regulatory challenge that wasn’t there” regarding the Netflix deal for Warner Bros., according to Ted Sarandos.
In interview no Politics today, the Netflix co-CEO talked about the political dynamics of the Warner Bros. auction. Discovery (WBD), which ended with Paramount paying $ 31 a share of the HBO studio, a total of $ 111B.
“I can’t say a job like this has been blocked in history,” Sarandos said of Netflix’s original $27.75 budget WBD.
“We didn’t have duplicate assets. We had trouble focusing on the markets in the marketplace that we operate in, and I think that was the response that I was getting from the DOJ and the regulators in general, which was, they understood that, but I think Paramount did a great job of creating a very loud narrative of a regulatory challenge that wasn’t there.”
Politics asked about the impact of Netflix board member and Democrat Susan Rice’s comments about certain companies’ actions in relation to President Donald Trump.
Rice said other companies will face corporate accountability if Democrats return to power because of their “self-serving” views and decide to “kneel” to curry favor with Trump, who demanded that the former US ambassador to the United Nations and national security adviser be removed from Netflix’s board.
“I think it made the narrative difficult, not the actual results,” Sarandos replied. “I think for us it’s always been a business venture, it’s been a well-regulated process in the US”
“The Department of Justice was handling it; everything was going well,” he added. “We were very confident that we didn’t have a control problem. Why would that be? It’s because it was a very specific job.”
“More creative partnerships and exhibitions around the world”
Sarandos also said that Netflix would have backed the platform if it had been successful in its deal, despite lingering doubts about the narrative.
“I had a good meeting in February with the International Union of Cinemas, with the heads of different countries about what challenges they have, how we can help, or how they can help us,” said Sarandos.
“I think we’re going to come out of this with very creative relationships with shows around the world. And for example, doing things we’ve never done before. I don’t recommend that I testify before the Senate again, but it was definitely an interesting experience.”
Elsewhere in the speech, Sarandos – who is based in Brussels, Belgium, where the European Union is based – talked about Netflix’s investment in the European content market.
“One of the things we have to remember is that we have become such an important part, I think, in the European audiovisual economy,” he said. “We have spent, over the last decade, more than $13B on content creation in Europe.
“First of all, we have a lot of skin in the game in Europe, obviously. We work with over 600 independent European producers. We’ve created about 100,000 jobs for actors and workers in Europe from our productions. So we’re talking to people who are interested in all aspects of that – how it’s maintained, how it’s maintained, how it grows and how you can protect it.”
We asked Netflix for more content about the $13B investment, but the broadcaster declined to comment.
Europe’s next big-ticket Netflix Detective Hole by Jo Nesbøa Nordic noir based on a series of novels by author Nesbø. Other upcoming originals include The queen season 3, Lupine part 4 again Quasimodo.
Sarandos meets several controllers on her trip to Europe. He said that “Netflix’s commitment to European production is unique in the world,” as he seeks to reshape the way the broadcaster is perceived by the industry on the continent.
It’s been “Both in our original production but also in our investment in secondary rights windows that we invest in earlier on films that push production,” he added.
“A multi-million dollar film production is constrained by our licensing agreements and beyond what we’ve produced. And the fact that we’re working with local European producers on these projects — I think there’s a misconception that we don’t.”
Sarandos also said that Netflix’s imminent deal with Warner Bros. we highlighted when policy makers were underestimating YouTube as a competitor to traditional media businesses.
“One of the things we’ve seen in recent months with the work of Warner Brothers is a deep misunderstanding about what YouTube is and what it is,” he said.
“YouTube is a direct competitor to television, whether it’s a local broadcaster or a broadcaster like Netflix. The connected television market is a blank screen, so whichever you choose, that’s what you’re watching tonight.
“You make money from subscriptions or advertising or both, but at the end of the day, choosing to engage in what you give and how, and how that program is monetized is a very competitive industry and includes YouTube.”
Sarandos said that the choice to watch content on YouTube “has been at the expense of RTL or Netflix,” adding: “I think this time it’s one of these things where we realize and understand that YouTube is in the exact same game as us.”
