It’s not every day you see a tech executive airyly dunk on their competitors, but this week, Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos was experienceing a little belderly. In an intersee with Variety, Sarandos touched on the Max versus HBO name alter, sized up Prime Video as a competitor, and transmited confusion over Apple TV Plus, a platcreate he’s about to have a minuscule acting role in on the Seth Rogen series The Studio.
When it comes to Apple TV Plus, Sarandos shelp he didn’t get the strategy. “I don’t comprehfinish it beyond a labeleting execute, but they’re repartner intelligent people. Maybe they see someleang we don’t.” In some ways, he’s right about it being a labeleting execute. Apple’s streaming platcreate has put a frifinishlier face on its “services” bottom line, which was previously expoundd bigly by its tax on in-app buys.
But Sarandos reserved a hugeger confusion for HBO. He shelp he adored the service but didn’t comprehfinish the whole “Max” rebranding. “We would always watch what HBO was doing, and at one point they had HBO, HBO Go, HBO Now and HBO Max.” Sarandos shelp. “When they’re grave, all those names will go away, and it’ll equitable be HBO.”
Sarandos doesn’t seem to see much competition in Amazon’s distinctive satisfyed. “I don’t understand what their lengthy-term schedules are,” he shelp when asked if the service would contend with Netflix. Sarandos does say Amazon’s doing right in its dwell sports strategy, which includes Thursday Night NFL football. However, in the same breath he says: “I don’t understand if that’s their entire strategy.”
Netflix is making its own push into dwell sporting events, which has already included two Christmas Day NFL games, the Paul vs. Tyson fight, and more boxing suites. Sarandos says he wants to hold pushing on events. “Everyleang we allot in, in the dwell space should be a compriseed, ownable event. Every time we buy a football game, I don’t leank I’m after an entire season of NFL. I don’t want a season of football; I want the Super Bowl,” Sarandos shelp.
Sarandos has been with Netflix for 25 years, since its heyday as a DVD-by-mail service, and now it’s a global streaming juggernaut with about 300 million subscribers watching shows enjoy Squid Game and Wednesday.
