Engagement In India Up By 30%, Revenue By 25%: Netflix Co-CEO

Speaking at the Global Business Summit, an initiative by The Economic Times, Sarandos named Indian films like RRR and Gangubai Kathiawadi, both streaming on Netflix, as breakout successes in the West. He added that India will see a rise in content investments as watch time and engagement improve. “We’ve had the best year of our existence in India," Sarandos added.

In January this year, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, who previously gave up the sole CEO title to share it with then chief content officer Sarandos, relinquished his co-CEO title as well this January. Sarandos and chief product officer Greg Peters are now co-CEOs with Hastings serving as executive chairman, the company had said in a letter to shareholders.

In December 2021, Netflix had slashed rates across plans in India by 18-60%, as the company aimed to reach more people.

Netflix’s mobile-only plan, earlier priced at ₹199 per month, now costs ₹149. The basic plan that allows access to all content on any one device is priced at ₹199 versus ₹499 earlier. The move was in line with local productions in collaboration with mainstream directors such as Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Heeramandi), Vishal Bhardwaj (Khufiya), Zoya Akhtar (an Archie Comics adaptation), besides second seasons of known hits, all of which require wide distribution.

As part of his visit to India, Sarandos also met union minister of information and technology Anurag Singh Thakur in New Delhi. The two discussed how India’s regional content was a global favourite and among the most viewed content globally apart from being dubbed in multiple languages, the ministry said in a statement.