Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos says the streamer isn’t growing as fast as he wants. In fact, viewership rose just 2%in the first half of 2026.
What We Know: Sarandos spoke Wednesday at Bloomberg’s 2026 Screentime event. Unlike past years, 2026 brought slower engagement and a lost bid for Warner Bros. Meanwhile, Netflix spends about 5% of its $20 billion content budget on live programming, including NFL games. However, live generates only about 1% of viewership, though it drives signups, cuts churn and pleases advertisers. Sarandos said that while he’s not satisfied with the pace of growth, he says the business is still in good shape.
What They Said: (All quotes from Bloomberg):
Ted Sarando on engagement level on Netflix: “All engagement is not equal. First and foremost, we are growing engagement. We’re growing on 200,000,000,000 hours of watching. We grew 2% in our last announcement. Overall, we’re not growing as fast as I want us to, and we’re working on and making that move faster. We are, though, also doing things that create a lot of headwind of that number.”
Ted Sarandos on the business of engagement: “When I say we grew 2%, that’s an easy number to sneeze at. But it’s through all the growth of live. It’s through incredible headwinds from things like the World Cup and world sports and all those things that are going on too. So, we are growing the business. We want to keep growing it faster. This past quarter, we did double digit revenue growth in every region of the world. The businesses great and growing fine. If you ask me, when we were growing at 20%, I’d be telling you, I wish we were growing faster.”
What Remains Unclear: A judge has now approved the combination of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery. Yet Sarandos says it’s too early to measure the threat. Additionally, Netflix is courting YouTube creators, but he insists it isn’t entering the user-generated content business. Also unclear is whether live programming can reverse 2026’s engagement slowdown.
What It Means: Ultimately, Sarandos remains bullish on the business despite slower growth. Its pitch to creators rests on multiple revenue streams, unlike largely ad-funded YouTube. Still, Sarandos won’t risk undercutting the core product with a free, ad-supported tier. Instead, Netflix appears to be betting on live events and select creators to reignite growth.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. Sign up for our newsletters to stay updated and get the latest information right in your inbox.
