As Netflix completes a decade in India, here are some of the comments that Netflix’s Ted Sarandos (Co-CEO, Netflix), Monika Shergill (Vice President – Content, Netflix India) and Bela Bajaria (Chief Content Officer, Netflix) had to share in a recent interview
Streaming giant Netflix has completed a decade in India. It has presented some of the most successful and acclaimed films and shows in these last ten years and the journey seems to have just begun.
As Netflix completes a decade in India, here are some of the comments that Netflix’s Ted Sarandos (Co-CEO, Netflix), Monika Shergill (Vice President – Content, Netflix India) and Bela Bajaria (Chief Content Officer, Netflix) had to share in a recent interview.
Speaking about how Netflix has broadened its footprint in India while staying true to its creative promise, Ted Sarandos, Co-CEO of Netflix, said: “We have expanded our pricing and product options to make Netflix accessible to more people, without moving away from being premium.”
Highlighting how constant reinvention has been central to Netflix’s evolution, he added: “We’ve had to continually innovate and evolve our user experience, recommendations, plans and pricing, payments infrastructure and distribution partnerships across the globe. So, while our strategy of focus and continuous improvement is simple, the execution is not easy. We embrace change and relish and thrive on competition as it pushes us to improve our service even faster for our members.”
Describing Netflix India’s programming philosophy, Monika Shergill, Vice President – Content, Netflix India, likened the slate to a thali that offers something for every taste: “We make premium soaps and movies and the biggest cinemas stream on Netflix. We will remain the home of the big and bold, we are also the home of relatables such as The Great Indian Kapil Show, Single Papa and The Ba***ds of Bollywood. We are programming for the broadest audiences.”
On the realities of building at scale and pace, and the investments that require, she added: “We stand for quality and volume. Bringing content to consumers quickly is just as important. To move fast, deliver quality projects, and do it at a certain scale and velocity, we have to spend more.”
For Bela Bajaria, Chief Content Officer, Netflix, the strength of Netflix lies in giving creators the freedom to tell deeply local stories — and audiences the freedom to explore the world. “It’s very important that you have creators and amazing stories from the world and you allow them this space to ell a very specific, local authentic story. If you’re sitting in Mumbai, Madrid, or Mexico City, you can click on Netflix and find your local show or you can scroll over. You can watch Money Heist, Amar Singh Chamkila, or Stranger Things.”
On what powers Netflix’s business momentum globally and in India, Ted Sarandos underlined that everything begins with great entertainment: “Our goal is to offer a wide variety of quality series, films and games that our members love. This in turn drives engagement on Netflix and when people watch more and love what they watch, they stick around longer (retention), recommend Netflix to others (acquisition) and place a higher value on our service. We monetize this engagement through both subscription and advertising revenue. So, it’s all about providing great entertainment to our members, that’s how we grow the business.”
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