In an interview, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos appeared to criticise the strategies of both HBO and Amazon Prime Video.
He said he did not understand HBO’s recent name change to HBO Max, and suggested that when the company “is serious” it will drop the Max title and simply be referred to as HBO once more.
Regarding Amazon, he suggested that the company’s move into live sports, including Thursday Night NFL football, may not be a long-term strategy.
However, he also praised Amazon’s live sports offering, admitting that Netflix could learn from this type of content strategy.
Netflix has already begun to move into live events itself, having recently purchased two NFL games, as well as the Paul vs Tyson fight, among other boxing matches.
Sarandos indicated that Netflix sees these events as “containable, ownable”, rather than buying entire seasons or competitions, and the streamer looks set to continue in this direction.