On the red carpet at the DGA Awards on Saturday night, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos addressed the proposed merger between Netflix and Warner Bros. and President Donald Trump’s role in the deal.
Asked by Variety’s Marc Malkin whether he would be nervous if the president said he was keeping an eye on the deal, Sarandos said, “Look, I think he has a strong interest in the entertainment industry.”
“He knows a lot about the entertainment industry and really cares about the health of the industry, the American industry as a whole, and I think specifically of the entertainment industry,” Sarandos continued.
But Sarandos said on the carpet: “He has made no suggestion that he will do anything wrong or be involved in any way. This is a Department of Justice arrangement.”
Sarandos testified before the Senate on Tuesday, vowing that the deal will be good for consumers.
“People probably don’t quite understand how competitive the market is for where a project gets featured or where consumers get to watch it, but it’s more competitive than ever.
“We’re in a real Wild West situation right now. The idea that there’s such a concentration risk in our deal when we have one player, YouTube, is ridiculous. YouTube already accounts for 15% of TV viewing time and continues to grow.”
He characterized not viewing YouTube as a major competitor to television as “fantasy.” “We have 9% of the TV business,” he said, referring to Netflix. “We got HBO and we grew to 10%. It’s not an antitrust issue.”
Sarandos continues to insist that Netflix intends to maintain solid theatrical slots for Warner Bros. films. “We’re going to grow Warner Bros., HBO and Warner Bros. Television, and make these great brands even better for the next century,” he told Variety.
The head of Netflix has criticized a senator’s claim that 50% of Netflix’s children’s content contains “trans ideology”, calling it “ridiculous”. Sarandos said Netflix has something for everyone, and viewers can block offending content by title, which he says is unique to the streamer.
Asked if there was any truth to the idea that the War Department influenced Netflix’s cancellation of “Boots,” Sarandos said, “Absolutely not.”
“These are all business decisions based on the audience compared to the cost of the show. Do the people who push plays watch to the end? Do they give it some thumbs up? Do they continue to grow? All of these things,” Sarandos explained.
“The best thing about the Internet, and our business, is that people really love the product. It’s heartbreaking to cancel the shows we’ve had, especially the shows that Norman Lear brought us. This was his last show, and I’m a fan,” Sarandos said.
