Netflix Germany Exec Sasha Bühler Addresses Streamer Contraction: “We’re Not Slowing Down… We’re Being A Little More Deliberate” – Zurich Summit
30.09.2023 - 10:37
/ deadline.com
The future of working with streamers was on the table at the Zurich Summit on Saturday amid talk that the content bubble has burst as key markets such as the U.S. reach saturation point.
Responding to suggestions that streamers are pulling back in terms of investment, Netflix exec Sasha Bühler, who oversees German-speaking content, said this was not the case for her platform.
“We’re not slowing down by any means in any market. We’re just being a little bit more deliberate about what works for our members,” she said.
Bühler was joined on the panel by Picture Perfect Federation CEO Patrick Wachsberger; Axel Kuschevatzky, co-founder of London, Los Angeles and Buenos Aires-based production company Infinity Hill and Nick Shumaker, Head of Anonymous Content independent.
“Some territories are more saturated than others… EMEA is a growth market for us for sure. We have not slowed down at all in our investment,” she continued.
“Germany is certainly a growth market. When you look at broadband penetration… we still have a lot of room to grow.”
She noted that Netflix founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings had pledged €500 million in investment for Germany-speaking content from 2021 to 2023, at the 2021 opening of the Berlin office, covering Germany Austria and Switzerland (the so-called DACH region).
“We’ve stuck to that. We’ve done that. Our plan is to continue to invest more and more. We think there’s room for it. It’s a very healthy market.”
Wachsberger suggested that the next big markets for the streamers would be beyond Western Europe.
“I think what is happening with the U.S. SVOD platforms is that the U.S. market is arriving at a cap. The question is where is the extension for them? I don’t even think it’s Western Europe. I think