Netflix CEO says sleep is company’s top adversary
As competition grows daily, Hastings says finding time is key
You know that feeling when you want to watch one more episode of Stranger Things or Luke
Cage — but maybe you should just go to bed? That need for some shut-eye is the biggest competition to Netflix, CEO Reed Hastings says.
Yes, Netflix’s competition in streaming video seems to grow daily. Amazon’s studio won three Oscars for its film Manchester By
The Sea — it hits the streaming service May 5 — and will stream Thursday night NFL games this season. YouTube TV has begun to roll out and Hulu will soon add live channels to its service.
But Netflix’s real competition is sleep, Hastings said during an interview with analysts after the Internet TV provider released its first-quarter financials Monday.
When viewers get addicted to a Netflix show, “you stay up late at night,” he said. “We are really competing with sleep on the margin.”
Netflix viewership and consumption is growing, but it’s “nowhere near as big as YouTube,” Hastings said. Remember, YouTube says users watch about 1 billion hours of videos daily on its network worldwide. “We’ve definitely got YouTube envy,” Has- tings said.
Amazon is “doing great programming and they will continue to do,” Hastings said, “but I’m not sure it will really affect us very much because the market is so vast.”
To put the content and consumer relationship into perspective, Hastings reminds that while Netflix has grown to about 50 million U.S. subscribers, HBO has “continued modestly growing. They haven’t shrunk,” he said. “Why? Well, it’s because we are like two drops of water in the ocean of both time and spending for people.”
With Netflix set to sign up its 100 millionth subscriber worldwide this weekend, the service is looking toward the future.
“The next 100 million subscribers will be far more likely to be watching on mobile than the first 100 million,” chief content officer Ted Sarandos said.
To that end, Netflix is experimenting with ways to re-scan already-produced programming to appear better on smartphones. The goal? “To basically have faces be larger,” Hastings said. “It’s super-experimental. It’s a neat idea about how to adapt to the future.”
When viewers get addicted to a Netflix show, “you stay up late at night. We are really competing with sleep on the margin.”
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings