The most interesting thing about Netflix (ticker: NFLX, due to report April 18th at 4pm ET), is its Co-CEO model. Will it work long-term? Time will tell.
Co-CEOs usually do not work. Today Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters share the CEO title at Netflix. The way I view NFLX’s leadership model is that Sarandos is the “content guy” while Peters is the “technology guy”.
- Prior to Sarandos and Peters sharing the CEO title, Sarandos was Co-CEO with Netflix founder Reed Hastings, who is now Board Chair.
- At a minimum the company feels top-heavy with Hastings still active in the Company along with his Co-CEOs. Perhaps the next step is for Hastings to further pull back from the Company in 2024 or 2025 with Sarandos to be named Board Chair and Peter as sole CEO. Or perhaps Sarandos and Peters make it work for many years to come, or perhaps this leadership model blows up. My guess is that if a slowing macro environment causes Netflix’s numbers to roll over this year, that rough patch will pull forward a potential blowup in the Co-CEO model.
- Reed Hastings January letter RE: Netflix’s leadership model: HERE
YouTube has gained content share in our view with its NFL Sunday Ticket offering which kicks off in September 2023. Here are YouTube’s Sunday Ticket pricing terms. YouTube acquired the NFL Sunday Ticket broadcast rights for approximately $2.0-2.5 billion per year. YouTube TV ought to get substantial revenue lift from Sunday Ticket which will benefit YouTube’s subscription revenues and increase YouTube’s recurring revenue as a percentage of Total YouTube Revenue.