In an expansive discussion at the Financial Times Business of Entertainment Summit in Los Angeles, Peters revealed that the platform is creating content “across 50 countries and in 50 languages.”
The executive, having recently returned from trips to South Korea and Japan and preparing to visit five European countries next week as the company celebrates a decade in the region, said, “Our teams are embedded across the world, deeply connected to the communities they work in, constantly collaborating with creators.”
He continued, “Our goal is to reach the largest audience possible. It starts within each country because if you’re not telling an authentic story that resonates locally, you’re not on solid ground.”
“But sometimes, when you succeed,” he continued, “you get a phenomenon like Money Heist, Squid Game, or Lupin—a tale that crosses boundaries and enthralls audiences everywhere. Our platform encourages people to explore content from languages or countries they may have never considered before. This opens up opportunities for viewers to see things from new perspectives and shift their viewing habits.”
It was noted that English-speaking viewers are increasingly opting to watch English-language shows with subtitles. Peters concurred, stating, “Dubbing is something we’re seeing evolve. A segment of the audience prefers to experience stories through dubbed versions. Even in countries traditionally known for using subtitles, we’re observing a shift in those viewing habits.”
He pointed to Europe as “a tremendous growth area for us,” and added, “Asia is a region where we are still in the early stages, but it offers incredible potential both in terms of creators and expanding our consumer base.”
Hollywood disruption
As Netflix, widely regarded as a major disruptor in Hollywood, Peters adopted a collaborative tone when discussing the significant changes happening at traditional studios. He said, “We are a member of that ecosystem, and we are growing in our role within it. We both contribute to and gain from it. These transitions are always challenging. The decline of linear TV is a tough issue to navigate.”
Peters further emphasized, “The Hollywood ecosystem is the most incredible collection of creative talent ever assembled. It’s hard to envision a future where that doesn’t endure, with great stories, films, and television continuing to emerge from Hollywood for the foreseeable future. Our role is to ensure we are making a positive contribution to that legacy.”
Live events and sports
The executive talked about live entertainment as well. With the recent $5 billion ten-year deal with WWE to stream a weekly wrestling program beginning in January 2025, two NFL American Football games on December 25, and the forthcoming Mike Tyson-Jake Paul battle, it has shown live stand-up comedy and is dabbling in live sports in a big manner.
When asked if the service planned to increase its year-round live broadcast of major sports, Peters responded, “Never say never,” but he acknowledged that the majority of the rights for the most popular sports are now tied up in multi-year deals.
He stated, “We’d love to do that, but in a way that works for the business, having Thursday night football and the NBA.” We want to consider our options imaginatively because those deals have been difficult to complete. We still don’t know how to accomplish that.
According to Peters, the American Football games on December 25 are more of an event than a game. One day, football will be available on Netflix, and everyone will be talking about it. We want to make them as Netflix-like as possible, therefore we’ll have entertaining content centered around the games created by us.
The move into advertising
The CEO also discussed Netflix’s November 2022 entry into the advertising space, which coincided with the company’s preparations for a potential crackdown on password sharing.
Six months after Peters and the leadership group made the decision to transition, the advertising tier went live. Their original six-person team has expanded to almost 40 members. If you have the appropriate people around, you can do a lot with a little team, he remarked.
“We had to start from scratch when developing the technological aspects of our advertising solution. We’re rushing to catch up, as the majority of our competitors have been doing this for decades. Being in that situation and experiencing that pressure is enjoyable. By 2026, Netflix’s advertising revenue is anticipated to significantly impact the company’s earnings.
“We’ve been using machine learning in our recommendations for almost two decades,” Peters stated in reference to artificial intelligence. The potential of generative AI excites us. We’ve past the super hype stage in the technology adoption cycle, and people are starting to realize that it takes a lot of work to go from the demo to actual usage.