As Netflix expands its stay output in an enormous approach over the subsequent few months, chief content material officer Bela Bajaria mentioned she wasn’t involved about final weekend’s buffering hiccups throughout the Mike Tyson/Jake Paul battle. Talking with reporters on Monday morning throughout Netflix’s Worldwide Showcase (extra on that in a second), Bajaria mentioned the streamer felt “very prepared” for its subsequent large stay occasion: Two NFL video games on Christmas Day (together with Beyoncé performing the halftime show throughout the second matchup, Houston v. Baltimore).
“We all the time knew we have been going to do a extremely large factor,” Bajaria mentioned of the Netflix engineering group, including that the streamer instantly set about to repair points. The buffering and freezing occurred throughout earlier undercards, and it appeared that points have been principally resolved by the point Tyson and Paul confronted off.
Requested if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell expressed issues after the battle, Bajaria quipped that he beloved seeing “that Netflix can convey you a big viewers to a serious sporting occasion.” Netflix reported over the weekend that it clocked 60 million households globally tuning in; it plans to launch extra particular information later this week.
Past the NFL, Netflix can be prepping for the arrival of the stay, weekly “WWE Monday Evening Uncooked,” which launches Jan. 6 on the streamer — with the primary week happening on the Inuit Dome in Inglewood. (Bajaria mentioned she’s taking a look at potential companion programming on Netflix to advertise to WWE followers — “Squid Recreation,” in fact, can have simply launched its Season 2 just a few days earlier, on Dec. 26.) And later in 2025, comic John Mulaney will host a live, weekly talk/variety show for Netflix — however Bajaria didn’t have any additional updates on when which may launch.
Past that, Bajaria mentioned she’s additionally trying to increase Netflix’s stay footprint in different territories. There have been just a few examples elsewhere, together with a stay “Love Is Blind” reunion present in Brazil. Bajaria mentioned Netflix wished to agency up its stay technique within the U.S. earlier than increasing to different territories — however now she mentioned “there’s wonderful alternatives and nice concepts. We’re going to determine what that slate is.”
Bajaria was assembly with press to stipulate Netflix’s present technique for non-English titles, sharing stats akin to the truth that 80% of its prospects watch Korean-originated content material, and that greater than 70% of its viewership watches packages that’s both dubbed or subtitled. (Netflix, obtainable in additional than 190 nations, at the moment dubs in 36 languages and offers subtitles in 33 languages.)
“That’s not simply nice for audiences — it’s nice for creators, too,” Bajaria mentioned, “as a result of it means their tales can have a fair greater influence on the earth.”
Within the U.S., Bajaria reported that 13% of hours consumed by Netflix viewers within the U.S. have been on non-English fare, led by Korean, Spanish and Japanese programming.
Execs becoming a member of Bajaria on stage have been Minyoung Kim (vice chairman of content material, Asia Pacific area), Paco Ramos (vice chairman of content material, Latin America area), Monika Shergill (vice chairman of content material, India) and Larry Tanz (vice chairman of content material, Europe, the Center East and Africa).
Among the many titles introduced have been the newest iteration of “Love Is Blind” (this time, “Love Is Blind: France”), in addition to Korea’s “Bodily 100: Asia” and a brand new untitled collection from India’s Shah Rukh Khan, set contained in the world of Bollywood and created/directed by Aryan Khan.
Bajaria and her group additionally highlighted extra upcoming tasks together with Italy’s “The Leopard,” Colombia’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” Brazil’s “Senna,” Japan’s “Final Samurai Standing,” Spain’s “Alcaraz” and the Season 2 return of Korea’s megahit “Squid Recreation.”
“In case you love Season 1, you’re undoubtedly gonna love Season 2, and it creatively delivers on what individuals would need it to be,” Bajaria mentioned.
