iWorld
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on global opportunity, subscriber addition and competition
MUMBAI: With Disney all set to enter the direct-to-consumer business with its streaming app, Netflix missing its subscriber addition forecast globally along with losing subscribers in the domestic market is likely to be trouble. Although stocks of the FANG company stumbled as an aftermath of the Q2 result, Netflix is confident of getting back on track in the next quarter. Talking to investors in an earnings call after the Q2 result, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings also showed confidence in global subscriber additions, upcoming competition and the positive impact of streaming war.
Here are the edited excerpts:
Global opportunity:
Well, we do wonder, in the fullness of time, can we be as big as YouTube? YouTube is 7x larger than us roughly in viewing hours, and a phenomenal service. Of course, it's free. So the real question is can we produce enough content that people are willing to pay for? If you look at benchmarks, it's about 700 million households that pay for television outside of China, so that would be kind of the equivalent of the US, 100 million, so that's one established market.
Now, do we have enough content in each of those countries? Most of that is local content that gets consumed. But the internet is capable of some very large customer bases, as you, I'm sure, know well. So we'll just take it year-by-year and try to have our net adds continue to grow. We still think our net adds this year will be larger than last year. We'll keep pushing on that. And what we want to do is just grow the net adds every year and then the future takes care of itself.
Streaming War:
It's never been a better world for talent. They get to bid themselves off between us, Disney, Amazon, etc. So there's a real battle for who will pay for content around the world, but it's not a zero-sum competition. I think everybody gets that people will subscribe to multiple shows. Add wage — most Netflix employees are HBO subscribers. We love the content they do and that spurs us to want to be even better. So it's a great competition that helps grow the industry. And the advantage of having something catchy like streaming wars is it draws more attention. And because of that, people, consumers shift more quickly from linear TV to the streaming TV.
Product partnerships for Stranger Things:
Well, we're monetising it today in more membership growth. The focus is to get more people excited about Stranger Things. So they join Netflix. They tell their friends about it. So this year, we'll add about $5 billion of incremental subscription revenue, which is almost all of the gross margin, and that's faster than any entertainment company has grown in the history of the world. So what we want to do is keep that engine going, keep that subscriber engine going and not get distracted with alternative revenue sources which just don't add up when you're growing $5 billion a year. So the core focus is to create all these merchandising opportunities, tie-ins, touch points so that you feel the Stranger Things energy so that more people join. So together, as we do monetise all that, it's just we're monetising it through our giant engine rather than through little sidecar vehicles.
iWorld
Epic Company launches unified Epic Studio for films and OTT
Vivek Krishnani to head films business; Samar Khan leads OTT & Television.
MUMBAI: Epic just merged its creative superheroes under one cape because when films and OTT need to fight for attention together, you don’t keep them in separate universes. The Epic Company has launched Epic Studio, a next-generation creative and production powerhouse that unites Juggernaut Productions and Movieverse Studio under a single banner. The move creates a streamlined, scalable platform for premium storytelling across theatrical films, OTT originals, television, digital-first formats and branded content.
Vivek Krishnani has been appointed chief executive officer, Epic Studio (Films), overseeing the theatrical and film business with a focus on culturally resonant narratives across Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati and Malayalam cinema. Samar Khan continues as chief executive officer, Epic Studio (OTT & Television) and retains his role as chief content officer for Docubay and Epic On.
The Epic Company managing director Aditya Pittie said, “Epic Studio brings together our entire creative ecosystem under one unified studio vision. This is not just an integration of verticals, but the creation of a collaborative environment where writers, filmmakers, creators, and brand partners can seamlessly develop and scale stories across formats and screens.”
Vivek Krishnani added, “We are building an audience-focused mainstream film studio committed to delivering fresh, engaging, and innovative stories for both theatrical and streaming platforms.”
Samar Khan commented, “This alignment allows us to approach storytelling with a unified studio mindset. We are building IP under one creative umbrella, with scale and longevity in mind from inception.”
The unified structure eliminates silos, enabling ideas to flow fluidly from concept to screen while adapting to evolving audience behaviour. Epic Studio positions itself as a creator-led ecosystem championing purposeful, resonant storytelling with commercial strength.
In an entertainment landscape where stories now leap between screens faster than plot twists, Epic isn’t just building a studio, it’s crafting a single launchpad where every tale gets the best shot at soaring across every platform.
