A streaming feud seems to be heating up between streaming giant Netflix and video mega platform Youtube after Netflix’s chief launched a salvo aimed at his Google-owned rival.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos apparently threw down the gauntlet at Youtube and was heard disparaging the content that Youtube offers its users, The Wrap reports.
Speaking at a Paley Media Council event on Friday, Sarandos was heard waving off Youtube for offering unprofessional programing as far as he is concerned.
Sarandos did admit that his company and Youtube are in competition, but it is only in small part, he says, and added that Youtube is “not a good recovery model” for video creators. He also hinted that he feels that most of what is on Youtube is not “professional content.”
“I think we’re a better monetization model for networks and studios for [professional content], but I also think that there’s a whole bunch of creators that I would put in the pro-am category that are making really interesting, compelling programming to watch. But YouTube doesn’t give them any money up front to make it, so they’re doing it all at their own risk.”
“You saw that MrBeast basically said he’s lost $80 million last year on his YouTube channel. So, it’s not a good recovery model…if Beast had the audience that he had like that on Netflix, he wouldn’t be raising money. He’d be giving away more money,” Sarandos continued.
He went on to belittle Youtube as just a place to “cut your teeth” to develop a show, but not a place to stay to make real money.
“We compete with them, along with everybody else, for entertainment, time and money. So, certainly we’re competing with them for advertising dollars and professional content. So, for that part of YouTube, we definitely compete. For the other parts we definitely don’t,” he said.
“I think there’s a part of the creator community that’s snackable consumption. There’s a difference between killing time and spending time. So, we’re in the kind of how you spend time business moreso,” he explained.
Sarandos next said that creators should not “look over their shoulders” all the time at the competition, then claimed he doesn’t want to be “snotty about it,” but he doesn’t really waste much time worrying about the competition Youtube represents to Netflix.
“This is the consumer promise that we’ve made, that we’re going to entertain you and we’re gonna give you a ton of value for your money. And if we don’t, you can quit. And I think that sometimes, if it’s not your strategic core, you might go adrift,” he said.
He also said that he isn’t exactly sure how Amazon’s Prime Video is working out for the online e-tailer, adding, “They must see something in it. They’re spending $9 billion a year doing it. There must be something that works.”
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