Netflix CEO believes streaming has made the world 'safer'

• Netflix's Ted Sarandos says streaming has made the world a "smaller and safer place."
• He says platforms like Netflix expose viewers to other cultures, making them more empathetic.

According to Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive of Netflix, his company is making the world a better place.

Streaming is "not only great for culture, in a strange way, I think it's been great to make the world a safer place," Sarandos said on the the tech podcast Hard Fork.

Sarandos, who stepped into his role in 2020, now leads Netflix with co-chief executive Greg Peters. During his tenure, the company has raked in massive profits from the global streaming explosion. It brought in $9.37 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2024 and added some 9.3 million new subscribers worldwide.

Sarandos said that by exposing viewers to stories from other cultures, we've collectively become more empathetic of one another. He said the 2011 Oscar winner, The Separation, is a good example.

The film is about a middle-class Iranian couple forced to separate for the prospect of a better life. It makes you realize "how much we have in common with each other around the world," he said. "Storytelling makes the world a smaller, safer place."

He believes that Netflix algorithms have helped create a melting pot of streaming content.

The new series, Baby Reindeer, now among the top shows on Netflix, originally took off with viewers in the UK before Netflix's algorithms started presenting it to viewers worldwide. "When something gets that big in one country, it's likely there's a lot of audience for it outside that country," Sarandos said.

The series follows the story of a struggling comedian who contends with a female stalker. Sarandos said he believes global viewers have picked up on its authenticity. "It's a really incredible human story," he said.