Archive · 6 Aug 2026
Ted Sarandos: Netflix India should've debuted with Lock Upp
Netflix is a company that lets people watch movies and TV shows on screens at home.
The boss of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, visited New Delhi to talk about how Netflix began in India.
He said Netflix should have started in India with a fun reality show called Lock Upp.
Instead, Netflix started with a serious crime show called Sacred Games.
Sarandos said people like all kinds of shows, both fancy and fun ones.
He wants Netflix to have something for everybody around the world.
He shared that people watched Indian shows on Netflix for 3.5 billion hours this year.
He also said India doesn't have many movie theaters, so Netflix helps people watch movies at home.
Netflix wants to be the first place people open when they want to watch something.
Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said Netflix India should have launched with more populist content like Lock Upp rather than leading with Sacred Games in 2017.
Speaking at the Indian Express Adda in New Delhi, Sarandos said Netflix must serve both 'classy' and 'massy' content because consumers don't see a difference between them.
Netflix India recently acquired Lock Upp, The Great Indian Kapil Show, and India's Got Latent; Lock Upp season 2 concluded this week.
Sarandos said Indian titles have logged 3.5 billion global watch hours this year, with Dhurandhar the most-watched non-English movie on Netflix.
He said Netflix competes for screentime rather than with theaters, and walked away from acquiring Warner Bros when the price stopped being right.
Sarandos cited India's under-screened market as a key reason Netflix succeeded, and noted that stars are 'very, very important' in India.
- Who
- Ted Sarandos, Co-CEO of Netflix, in conversation with Indian Express Executive Director Anant Goenka.
- What
- Sarandos said Netflix India should have launched with more populist content like Lock Upp alongside Sacred Games, and discussed Netflix's content strategy, India's global success, and its growth model.
- When
- Thursday, at the Indian Express Adda; Lock Upp season 2 concluded the same week.
- Where
- New Delhi, India.
- Why
- To explain Netflix's content strategy in India, why it succeeded where other American companies failed, and how it plans to serve diverse audience tastes.
- Speaker
- Ted Sarandos, Co-CEO of Netflix
- Event
- Indian Express Adda, New Delhi
- Netflix's first Indian original
- Sacred Games (2017)
- Recent India acquisitions
- The Great Indian Kapil Show, India's Got Latent, Lock Upp
- Global watch hours of Indian content this year
- 3.5 billion
- Most-watched non-English movie on Netflix this year
- Dhurandhar
- Indian title Global Top 10 presence
- Every week since 2024
- Average Netflix member movie viewing
- About seven movies a month on Netflix