Netflix is going to be under a lot of pressure come November when Apple TV+ and Disney+ launch. Variety reported on boss Reed Hasting’s comments to the Royal Television Society Friday, in which he looked ahead to what comes next.
“While we’ve been competing with many people in the last decade, it’s a whole new world starting in November…between Apple launching and Disney launching, and of course Amazon’s ramping up,” said Hastings, who also cited NBCUniversal’s coming Peacock service. “It’ll be tough competition. Direct-to-consumer [customers] will have a lot of choice.” He said Netflix would continue to hew closely to its core strategy of offering content for binge viewing, the phenomenon it helped create. That means the service isn’t moving into live sports, as Amazon Prime Video has, and won’t experiment much with different release models, including for its expanding catalogue of original films. “They may have a qualifying run for theatrical, but it’s fairly small.”
Check It Out: Streaming ‘a Whole New World’ in November, Says Netflix Boss