Ted Sarandos Downplays Warner Bros. Deal Fallout, Highlights Netflix’s Growing Stakes in Europe

Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos has sought to move beyond the company’s unsuccessful bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, redirecting attention toward Netflix’s future in Europe and the evolving regulatory landscape in the region.

Less than a month after Netflix lost out on acquiring the studio following Warner Bros.’ decision to accept a $111 billion offer from David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance, Sarandos addressed the matter in a wide-ranging interview with Politico in Brussels. While acknowledging the attention surrounding the deal, he made it clear that Netflix is no longer dwelling on the outcome.

Sarandos rejected suggestions that political pressure influenced the negotiations, stating there was “no political interference” from the Trump administration. He added that while political narratives may have surrounded the deal, they did not affect its conclusion. “The political dynamics ‘complicated the narrative [around the deal], not the actual outcomes,’” he said. “I think for us it was always a business transaction.”

He also downplayed former U.S. President Donald Trump’s February 21 post on Truth Social calling for Netflix to remove board member Susan Rice, describing it as “a social media post… It was not ideal, but [Trump] does a lot of things on social media.”

Instead, Sarandos focused on Netflix’s growing footprint in Europe, which he described as the company’s largest market by revenue. “The EU is now our largest territory,” he said. “We’ve spent, in the last decade, over $13 billion in creating content in Europe. It makes us one of the leading producers and exporters of European storytelling. We’ve got a lot of skin in the game in Europe.”

His comments come as European lawmakers prepare to revisit the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), which governs television, streaming and video-sharing platforms across the European Union. Among its provisions is a requirement for streaming services like Netflix to ensure that at least 30 percent of their content is European.

While indicating that Netflix can operate within such regulatory frameworks, Sarandos suggested that incentive-based approaches such as tax breaks and production support offered in countries like Spain and the United Kingdom are more effective than mandates. He also cautioned against fragmented regulation across different EU member states, warning it could undermine the advantages of a unified market.

Sarandos also highlighted what he sees as a key oversight among policymakers: the role of YouTube as a major competitor in the television and streaming space. “One of the things that we saw in recent months with the Warner Brothers transaction is a real deep misunderstanding about what YouTube is and isn’t,” he said. “YouTube is a straightforward direct competitor for television, either a local broadcaster or a streamer like Netflix…I think what happens is people think of YouTube as a bunch of cat videos [but] YouTube is in the same exact game that we are.”

As Netflix recalibrates its global strategy, Sarandos’ remarks signal a clear pivot—away from high-profile acquisition battles and toward strengthening its position in Europe amid shifting industry dynamics and regulatory scrutiny.

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