by Sahil Patel
Netflix hopes to be available “everywhere in the world” within the the next five years, according to the company’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos.
During an on-stage interview at the 42nd annual Global Media and Communications Conference from investment bank UBS, Sarandos spoke at length about Netflix’s international expansion, as well as how the company’s original programming and content acquisitions strategy will evolve amid all of that growth.
Notably, Netflix recently expanded in Europe, launching in six major countries including France and Germany. Based on the initial data in those markets, as well as others Netflix already operates in, the company has come to realize that demand continues to be high for high-profile US shows.
In fact, until Netflix came on to the scene, most U.S. shows took forever to travel to international markets. “When we launched in the Nordics, they were two years behind on ‘The Walking Dead,’” said Sarandos. “There is a big access issue outside of the U.S. when it comes to TV,” as many buyers outside of the country would wait until a show was a bonafide success in the U.S. before bringing it to their market, he added.
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