Reed Hastings,Founder and Co-CEO of Netflix Bullish on India. in an interview to You, the company’s vice president for Hastings and Materials,Monica Shergill, detailed India’s strategy and talked about many issues that Indians are looking at, from regulation. Conversation excerpts:
What is India’s strategy for now and what is the content game you are engaged in?
• reed hastings: many shows that Monica Here doing extraordinary we have already launched 70 Indian Netflix Originals. Some have won international Emmys. white Tiger Received a lot of positive praise. Monica is expanding regional content from the South. We now have 90 shows in the pipeline that have already been developed. 70 done, 90 commissioned and in pipeline.
Monica Shergill: The way the Netflix model works beautifully As we have experienced across the country, consumers flock to Netflix for both quality and variety. What really works for us is variety, because your Netflix is different from my Netflix. That’s why when we say we’ve done 70 titles in India – it’s in doc series, it’s stuff like Indian matchmaking, stuff like Emmy award winning Delhi crime, Jamtara which is on phishing, crime drama.
The new slate is really what we’re bringing in is going to be a significant kind of step change in the market, the way we’ve planned it, very humbly hoping it’s kind of land, kind of material, kind of There are stories we will bring to the scale and velocity for which Netflix is known globally. So that’s what we’re aiming to do from the end of this year.
Are you planning any acquisitions as there are very good production houses in the country and some of them are in the local language?
• Hastings: Title yes, but we are not competing with production companies like that. So if we start buying one or two – everyone else is worried. So we think whatever we’re commissioning is with local production companies building their capacity. And then they contract with us, they do something with us, they do something with Prime.
So they build strong business without being dependent on us and that’s how we build industry with that independent production. So I think it is better that we just commission the content or get the title, but not the companies.
What types of styles actually work in India? What are Indians watching?
• Shergill: You can see that on one hand there is Sacred Games which has done so well. And on the other end, there is a Haseen Dilruba which has actually spread to 22 countries, and has been in the top 10 list and worked in Tier One, Tier Two cities and across. And then there’s a 100% increase in documentaries.
There has been a 100% increase in watching children’s content on Netflix. We have had plays, which have actually increased by about, I don’t know, 400%. Romance as a genre is rarely served in India, it is in cinema. But what kind of romance people want to see which dramas are showing in very less audience. But expanding the audience base is a taste. We are huge on crime.
Should streaming content be regulated?
• Hastings: We offer comprehensive parental controls in each county. We really want each family to be able to set and enforce their own standards. We give tremendous control to our families. The Internet has changed perceptions of control, broadcast television and movie theaters. In many countries, they are more controlled and the Internet is more open. So this is a change that societies are adjusting to.
But the way we are reacting to this is to give each family the control they want. If you and your wife are watching you don’t need any control, if you have 14 year olds you want a lot of control. So we’re very flexible that way.
Would you agree that the content that is being streamed needs to be controlled or regulated, right from the point where you are broadcasting it and not at the point of consumption?
• Hastings: It’s a bit of both. Because look, we self-regulate like the industry, and try to think about that. So we don’t have any pornography. I mean, we don’t have, there are a lot of things that we don’t have.
Okay, so we essentially self-regulate in terms of the kind of content we have. But some of our content is, you know, in the form of sex education. It’s a lot of fun but you know, it’s not good for a 14 year old. So we have both.
What are the unique things you notice about India as compared to other markets?
• Hastings: I think like you said, broadband, mobile prices are so low, you know, Rs 200 or Rs 300 per month, it is extraordinary and not like any other country.
What will be the percentage on mobile? And how much will be on television?
• Hastings: In India it is almost half.
What is India’s strategy for now and what is the content game you are engaged in?
• reed hastings: many shows that Monica Here doing extraordinary we have already launched 70 Indian Netflix Originals. Some have won international Emmys. white Tiger Received a lot of positive praise. Monica is expanding regional content from the South. We now have 90 shows in the pipeline that have already been developed. 70 done, 90 commissioned and in pipeline.
Monica Shergill: The way the Netflix model works beautifully As we have experienced across the country, consumers flock to Netflix for both quality and variety. What really works for us is variety, because your Netflix is different from my Netflix. That’s why when we say we’ve done 70 titles in India – it’s in doc series, it’s stuff like Indian matchmaking, stuff like Emmy award winning Delhi crime, Jamtara which is on phishing, crime drama.
The new slate is really what we’re bringing in is going to be a significant kind of step change in the market, the way we’ve planned it, very humbly hoping it’s kind of land, kind of material, kind of There are stories we will bring to the scale and velocity for which Netflix is known globally. So that’s what we’re aiming to do from the end of this year.
Are you planning any acquisitions as there are very good production houses in the country and some of them are in the local language?
• Hastings: Title yes, but we are not competing with production companies like that. So if we start buying one or two – everyone else is worried. So we think whatever we’re commissioning is with local production companies building their capacity. And then they contract with us, they do something with us, they do something with Prime.
So they build strong business without being dependent on us and that’s how we build industry with that independent production. So I think it is better that we just commission the content or get the title, but not the companies.
What types of styles actually work in India? What are Indians watching?
• Shergill: You can see that on one hand there is Sacred Games which has done so well. And on the other end, there is a Haseen Dilruba which has actually spread to 22 countries, and has been in the top 10 list and worked in Tier One, Tier Two cities and across. And then there’s a 100% increase in documentaries.
There has been a 100% increase in watching children’s content on Netflix. We have had plays, which have actually increased by about, I don’t know, 400%. Romance as a genre is rarely served in India, it is in cinema. But what kind of romance people want to see which dramas are showing in very less audience. But expanding the audience base is a taste. We are huge on crime.
Should streaming content be regulated?
• Hastings: We offer comprehensive parental controls in each county. We really want each family to be able to set and enforce their own standards. We give tremendous control to our families. The Internet has changed perceptions of control, broadcast television and movie theaters. In many countries, they are more controlled and the Internet is more open. So this is a change that societies are adjusting to.
But the way we are reacting to this is to give each family the control they want. If you and your wife are watching you don’t need any control, if you have 14 year olds you want a lot of control. So we’re very flexible that way.
Would you agree that the content that is being streamed needs to be controlled or regulated, right from the point where you are broadcasting it and not at the point of consumption?
• Hastings: It’s a bit of both. Because look, we self-regulate like the industry, and try to think about that. So we don’t have any pornography. I mean, we don’t have, there are a lot of things that we don’t have.
Okay, so we essentially self-regulate in terms of the kind of content we have. But some of our content is, you know, in the form of sex education. It’s a lot of fun but you know, it’s not good for a 14 year old. So we have both.
What are the unique things you notice about India as compared to other markets?
• Hastings: I think like you said, broadband, mobile prices are so low, you know, Rs 200 or Rs 300 per month, it is extraordinary and not like any other country.
What will be the percentage on mobile? And how much will be on television?
• Hastings: In India it is almost half.
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