Netflix’s Ted Sarandos reflects on India strategy: 'Sacred Games may have come too soon'

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has admitted that the streaming giant may have misjudged its initial content strategy in India, suggesting that Sacred Games, its first Indian original series, may not have been the most suitable starting point for the market.

Speaking on entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath’s podcast, Sarandos acknowledged that Netflix struggled at first to find the right product-market fit in India. “Our very first Indian original show was Sacred Games. And I thought, ‘This is going to be great. People in India love movies. This is a TV show that feels as big as a movie, it has movie stars,’” he said.

However, he noted that the cultural context was not fully understood at the time. “It was very novel, but what I didn’t realise was that we were introducing a completely new kind of entertainment in a country the size of India,” Sarandos reflected.

Looking back, he admitted he might have made a different choice. “If I did it all over again, would I have done Sacred Games a couple of years later, and gone with something more populist first? Maybe.”

Despite the slower-than-expected start, Sarandos remains upbeat about Netflix’s prospects in India. “We always knew India would be a slower journey. But it’s a great prize at the end of the day. The addressable market is growing over the next few years, so it’s very exciting,” he added.

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