Netflix’s Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos spoke about the streamer’s programming status on Sunday’s CNN’s “Reliable Sources” with CNN Anchor Brian Stelter.
“Viewing is up on Netflix, viewing is up on CNN, viewing is up on television. But people certainly are watching a lot more Netflix,” he said.
Sarandos echoed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who said the most important thing we can do is stay home. “So we’re proud to be part of that, which is trying to make that stay-home experience a little more bearable for folks, a little more enjoyable even. And give some families something to gather around, something for people to talk about, making us feel a little less isolated, while we are being physically isolated.”
The Netflix exec acknowledged that its productions were up-ended on a global scale, but added the streamer didn’t anticipate disruptions in service, for now.
As for the future?
Sarandos told Stelter: “We work pretty far ahead. You know, we deliver all of our shows with all episodes at once. So we don’t see any disruption in our output over the next few months.” He added “Big Mouth” did a virtual table read with 40 actors.
For those working on productions that were shut down, Sarandos says crews were paid for the next two weeks. The company is also trying to keep most employees working from home.
To help its global workers, Netflix created a $100 million fund to help those hit by TV and film closures.