Bela Bajaria Talks Programming Strategy, Teases ‘The Crown’ Premiere Date At Netflix’s First Upfront

deadline.com:

For years, Netflix had focused squarely on subscriber growth and becoming the dominant player in the streaming world. That changed last year when, after a big market correction, Netflix made a course correction with a focus on profits, including an ad-supported tier which launched in November.

Six months later, Netflix is holding its first upfront presentation for advertisers, which also marks the first major public speech by top programming executive Bela Bajaria since she was named Chief Content Officer for the streamer in January.

During the virtual event, she spoke about “super serving” the audience — a term frequently used this upfront week — revealing that Netflix members “watch, on average, six different genres a month.” Because of the unprecedented growth of Netflix’s original slate over the past decade, the streamer has faced criticism that it’s hard to maintain quality control on such large volume.

Bajaria indicated that Netflix plans to continue to deliver content in every genre and for different tastes, arguing that not every show has to be liked by everyone. “The range is amazing — from Ginny & Georgia to Murder Mystery, You to You People,” she said. “To do all of this – to super serve our members – we have to focus on quality, with the understanding that quality, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.” In listing some of Netflix’s biggest series and movies, including recent breakout hits The Night Agent and Queen Charlotte and the upcoming actioneer Heart of Stone with Gal Gadot, Bajaria referenced Nielsen when referring to the streamer’s ratings success.