Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s Co-CEO, recently made a pretty bold statement about the future of movie watching. In an appearance at the TIME100 Summit, Sarandos said that the traditional movie theater experience is becoming “an outmoded idea for most people,” Deadline reports.
He made it clear that for a lot of viewers, home viewing is the way to go these days.
Sarandos pointed out that, based on the decline in box office numbers, it’s clear what consumers want. “What is the consumer trying to tell us?” he asked, then answered, “That they’d like to watch movies at home.”
While he admitted that he personally loves the theater experience, he emphasized that it’s not the preferred choice for most people anymore.
His comments come as movie theaters are still working to bounce back post-pandemic, with many films being released on streaming platforms much sooner than before.
During the pandemic, studios experimented with shorter windows between theatrical releases and home video or streaming, sometimes offering films just 30 days after hitting theaters. Before COVID-19, it was typical for movies to stay in theaters for 80 to 90 days before moving to home viewing.
At the CinemaCon trade convention, Michael O’Leary, head of the Cinema United trade organization, called for a 45-day minimum theatrical window to help ensure box office success.
He argued that shorter windows hurt films’ performance and confused moviegoers. However, Sarandos is sticking to his belief that giving people the option to watch movies at home is the way forward.
While some in the theater industry push for a return to longer release windows, Netflix is thriving by catering to what audiences want—flexibility and the ability to watch movies on their own time, wherever they are.
For Sarandos, the future of entertainment is all about meeting consumers where they are, and for a lot of people, that means at home with a streaming service like Netflix.
