
Back to All News
Ted Sarandos Keynote: Royal Television Society London Convention 2024
Entertainment
17 September 2024
GlobalUnited Kingdom
Link copied to clipboard
Good morning, everybody. Thank you for inviting me. It's a privilege to be here with you.
The Royal Television Society always holds a special place in my heart because it was here, back in 2016, that I showed you the first trailer for the first season of The Crown.
Over the next seven years, The Crown went on to become the most nominated British TV series in Emmy history - and only one of three to win best drama.
But I'll always remember it as a show that stood conventional wisdom on its head.
Peter Morgan's pitch was for a six-season show with a rotating cast. A show that would take ten years to produce. It was something that no one had ever tried before - and something that most people thought would never work. But it did, introducing a new generation of stars to the world.
Besides being one of the best shows of the last decade, The Crown is also a perfect example of why Britain remains one of the best places for TV and film.
You have some of the very best writers, directors, producers, actors, crew, crafts and locations anywhere in the world. I have always thought of the UK as the birthplace of prestige television - a creative culture unlike any other.
It's why Netflix invests more here than any other country outside the U.S. Since 2020, we've invested $6B in the UK creative community - and worked with over 30,000 cast and crew.
Today we have over 100 productions active in the UK.
And I've recently had the pleasure of visiting some of those sets - like Thursday Murder Club, My Oxford Year and Wake Up Dead Man, our new Knives Out movie.
So I've seen the scope and ambition of these British-made shows and films first-hand.
This wealth of talent is a Great British success story. Because it didn't happen by accident.
It happened because you have great public service broadcasters and institutions that nurture British talent and creativity. Institutions like the RTS, the oldest television society in the world.
It happened because you've consistently supported regulations that encourage creativity, innovation and long term thinking.
And it happened because you invested in education and training in the creative arts at every level, as well as investing in your amazing facilities. All of which have been supported by highly competitive tax incentives which make the UK an even more attractive place for anyone looking to make a film or show.
Filming here in Britain is always a privilege, and never a sacrifice.
In other words, Britain became one of the best countries in the world for TV and film because you made it happen.
And now, with competition for people's time and attention so high - and barriers to entry in entertainment so low - its time to make it happen again.
The question is how?
I'll start with a disclaimer: I am obviously not British, and Netflix is not a British company. But we operate in over 190 countries around the world - including this one - and that's taught us a lot over the years.
Today I want to share a few of those lessons with you.
First, to succeed we need to put the audience first - and that means embracing change.
The entertainment industry has always been defined by change. New technology comes along, new companies pop up, and patterns of consumer behavior shift.
We saw it with cable, then home video, then streaming.
And now we're seeing it happen again.
Today, choice and control are the price of admission in modern entertainment. It's streaming that consumers want. And it's how our industry stays relevant - and grows - in the face of intense competition from all directions.
Like cable TV and home video before it, streaming also opens up new opportunities for creators to make their voices heard. For distributors to reach bigger audiences. And for those audiences to have more choices of what to watch.
Just look at this summer. It's been a blockbuster few months for streaming, with Bridgerton, The Bear, and House of the Dragon - three wonderful but very different shows. And all attracting enormous audiences.
Now, at this point you may be thinking, It's easy for Netflix to talk about change. You're the one driving it. But we have struggled to adapt, too.
Back when we first started streaming, the technology wasn't great, and we had two big competitors: piracy and our own DVD business.
To succeed at streaming, we knew we had to create something better than free. And we knew we had to let our DVD business go. Because as Steve Jobs said, if you don't cannibalize your business, someone else will.
And it was painful to split the company in half. We told our DVD employees that they could not even attend company meetings any more, in essence saying: you're the past, not the future .
But it's the reason that we adapted and grew.
Today, our members can watch a world of entertainment for a fraction of the price of a box set of The Sopranos in 2007.
And they don't have to wait two months for all the episodes of a show to come out, or for a film to finish its theatrical run.
I know the TV business was built on windows, but audiences don't care about them at all.
When you work in our business long enough, it can be easy to get distracted by all of the complexities. Rights. Distribution. Technology. It goes on and on.
These are all important things. But what really matters is how well we serve our audiences. What are we willing to do to serve them better.
Which brings me to the next lesson: audiences care a lot about variety and quality.
People often ask me if we really need so many movies and TV shows on Netflix. It's a debate you've been hav
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Shotoku Introduces the World to Aura P2 PTZ Prompter Panner at NAB 2026
New system removes PTZ pan restrictions for teleprompter-based productions
Shotoku US...
14/04/2026
Integration of Vantage, Pulse, and Telestream UP with Grass Valley AMPP Ecosystem enables scalable, interoperable workflows spanning live production and file-ba...
14/04/2026
Enterprise growth leader to scale Dalet's next phase of innovation and global expansion
New York, NY April 14, 2026 Dalet, a leading technology and ser...
14/04/2026
Berklee Celebrates Prince's Legacy in Two-Night Signature Series Event Directed by Tia Fuller, the Prince Project (April 16-17) brings together more than ...
14/04/2026
Arooj Aftab Is Anything but Predictable The singular artist explores the juxtaposition of grief and joy, dark and light, in her distinctive sound.
April 14, ...
14/04/2026
Appear launches include XM estate management and new X Platform processing enhancements to add density for next-generation hybrid & IP workflows, X5 is also now...
14/04/2026
Addressing the needs of a new generation's viewing habits, Synamedia launches GO Shorts. The AI-powered module turns existing catalogues into TikTok-style ...
14/04/2026
Vubiquity, an Amdocs company and global leader in technology-led media services, will be showcasing a new end-to-end streaming solution in collaboration with El...
14/04/2026
LiveU today announced a significant expansion of its collaboration with Sony Corporation, introducing integrated support for Sony's file-based workflow solu...
14/04/2026
Open Broadcast Systems (https://www.obe.tv/) has announced that BBC World Service has selected its decoders for IP Television distribution. The high-quality, lo...
14/04/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve 21
Brie Clayton April 14, 2026
0 Comments
Major update adds new Photo page bringing Hollywood's most a...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/04/2026
Wowza will return to NAB Show 2026 with a set of live demonstrations focused on how video infrastructure is evolving for a new generation of AI-powered and oper...
14/04/2026
Stegawave Debuts Real-Time Forensic Watermarking to Tackle Piracy in Live Sports...
14/04/2026
Living in Boston: A Guide for Incoming Boston Conservatory Students From navigating the T to balancing school with professional gigs, a current student shar...
14/04/2026
Just What Is Genre These Days, Anyway? Understanding the business and art of genre-bending in 2026.
April 13, 2026
By
Bryan Parys
Illustration by Jack Fla...
14/04/2026
Lenora Helm Hammonds Is Turning Passion Into Plan A The dean of the Professional Education Division has seen the industry from all sides. Now shes bringing it...
14/04/2026
How Michelle Zalabak Found Her Dream Career in Music and Finance The Warner Music Group deal analysis manager helps determine what artist catalogs are worth a...
14/04/2026
Luxembourg, April 14, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, today annou...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Composition Builder 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Composition Builder 2026 application for macOS enables TV stations and Live Event broadcast...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr just:live pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:live pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel Live Production Playout solution for video and static or real-ti...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr just:play pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:play pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel automated 24/7 Master Control playout solution with SD, HD and U...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAr live:cut 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: live:cut is an option to just:in mac pro 2025 and enables multicamera production workflows for up to 16 cam...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite NDI 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite NDI application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specific...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specifically for...
13/04/2026
ToolsOnAir just:in mac pro 2026 Boilerplate
More Details: just:in mac pro is a macOS-based client-server multichannel capture solution to record SDI, HDMI, N...
13/04/2026
Telos Alliance has announced that J nger Audio has joined the EBU ADM Implementers Group (ADM-IG) as a founding member. The group is focused on advancing ADM an...
13/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate its Alliance Partner ecosystem at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C2408, Central Hall, April 19-22), showing AMPP integrations across live pr...
13/04/2026
Media Links will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2033), demonstrating IP transport solutions for live production including hitless protection technology, Xscen...
13/04/2026
NBC Sports has announced a programming, distribution, and sales partnership with...
13/04/2026
FloSports has promoted Chief Operating Officer Jayar Donlan to President, effective immediately. In his new role, Donlan will lead the company's commercial,...
13/04/2026
PanCam Pictures, the documentary production company founded by Paul Camarata, us...
13/04/2026
Mimir will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (North Hall, Booth N2850), demonstrating its cloud-native media production platform with new capabilities including Mimir Cu...
13/04/2026
BBright has announced that its IP Gateway now supports the Reliable Internet Stream Transport (RIST) protocol. The addition will be introduced at NAB Show 2026 ...
13/04/2026
Net Insight has been awarded a development project through the European Space Agency's Navigation Innovation and Support Program (NAVISP), with co-funding f...
13/04/2026
intoPIX will exhibit at NAB Show 2026, marking the company's 20th anniversary. The company will demonstrate its JPEG XS compression portfolio and IPMX-appro...