A day after the industry’s writers overwhelmingly voted to authorize a potential strike, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos weighed in on how the streamer might fare if a work stoppage does become a reality.
“If there is one, we have a large base of upcoming shows and films from around the world. We could probably serve our members better than most,” the executive said on a Tuesday earnings call for the streamer. “We really don’t want this to happen but we have to make plans for the worst [-case scenario] and so we do have a pretty robust slate of releases to take us into a long time.”
Contract negotiations between the union the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the studios and streamers in the talks, have been ongoing since March 20, with the parties last meeting on Monday. During his Wednesday remarks, Sarandos was careful to clarify that “we’re at the table and we’re going to try to get to an equitable solution so there isn’t a strike.”
The co-CEO — whose service was largely a DVD mail-order business that was at the outset of its streaming business when the writers last struck in 2007-2008 — called that work stoppage “devastating to creators.” He added that it was “really hard on the industry, it was painful for local economies that support production and it was very, very, very bad for fans.”
While the future of the writers’ contract — which expires in less than two weeks, on May 1 — remains up in the air, Sarandos still projected a rise in content spending over the next few years. While noting that this expenditure depends on revenue growth, the co-CEO estimated that the service will be “back to about the $17B level in 2024.”
More to come.
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