Netflix chief on 'too much TV' debate: 'Somebody else will have to slow down'

Netflix has waded into the “Too Much TV” debate.

The streaming company’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos tackled the issue during the Television Critics Association’s press tour in Pasadena on Sunday morning.

“Is there too much TV?” Sarandos asked, then coyly added, “I’ll pause for a second,” knowing reporters would want to get this next part: “We don’t think there’s too much TV. And if there is too much TV, someone else is going to have to slow down, because we have big plans for 2016 and beyond.”

Sarandos noted the company will have 600 hours of original programming in 2016 and disclosed this year’s budget: “We’re going to spend in 2016 about $5 billion dollars on content on a P&L basis, which means about $6 billion in cash.” That number includes content acquisition and original programming. Netflix is currently at 70 million subscribers. “We are running a global network,” he declared, “one that is not easily comparable either in business or cultural terms … We’re not courting advertisers, because we’re not targeting a single demographic.”

Just the day before, FX chief John Landgraf reiterated his now-famous declaration that there’s “too much TV” given that networks and streaming companies launched more than 400 scripted shows in 2015.