“Back to basics” for Netflix’s Bela Bajaria as he asks “Are we the underdogs now?” – Banff

Bella Bajaria, head of Netflix Global TV, pointed out that she’s “back to basics” in recent months when she asked, “Are we weak now? And he says,” This is a good place. “

Speaking in Banff, Bajaria dismissed the need for a “sea change in our business” given the difficult period of slower-than-expected subscriber growth, raising questions about the Streamer model.

“We’re not merging departments or we don’t have a big transition phase or anything like that,” he said. “The way I see it, this is a noisy time and it’s about going back to basics. We meet up with writers, producers, directors, read if we go local and take the opportunity.

Looking back over the past few months, Bajaria posed the question: “Are we submissive now? And he said, “Great, this is a good place.”

Streamer is spending $ 17 billion on content this year, and in response to a question from Deadline, Bajaria said the slow growth in subscriber expectations will hit content spending “sideways” for years to come.

He did not specify how the costs would change in numerical terms.

Bajaria also dismissed competition concerns from other deep streamers, saying “we have a great relationship with creators who realize that if they have something great, they can get speech and a large audience.”

Presentation of a squid game reality show e Lincoln Lawyer In the second season, Bajaria talked about other recent hits like bridge, Which “reminded people that female programming is great and great for business.”

Bajaria also talked about the early days of her career, when she was often the only colorful person in the creative room.

“They said to me, ‘Come to this meeting, talk to these groups’ and I understood, ‘Oh, you’re the only one helping me.’ I don’t know anything about this group, I can’t talk about it at all, “she explained.

He continued: “He was reading the scripts and saying, ‘Oh, you have this show in an American hospital and there are no different people in it.’

Bajaria gave a speech at the Banff World Media Festival after Universal Studio Group President Perlena Igbokve addressed the crowd and co-CEO David Linde ahead of the latest conference.

The former president of Universal Television joined Netflix in 2016 and was promoted to his current role about two years ago, following the departure of Cindy Holland.