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Netflix’s YouTube Anxiety Attack

With its fast pivot to podcasters and digital creators, the streamer that upended premium TV is feeling its own angst of late. As the engagement wars ratchet up, are leaders Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters charting a savvy new path or running on nerves?

ted sarandos
Netflix C.E.O. Ted Sarandos goes through a security checkpoint at the White House on February 26, 2026. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Matthew Belloni
&
Julia Alexander
July 10, 2026

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As with its move into original content and the rollout of advertising, it’s kinda shocking how quickly Netflix is pivoting to include more lower-cost, YouTube-style podcasts and short vertical video. Facing a slowdown in engagement on the platform and a stock price that has dropped 40 percent since October, the usual firehose of film and TV announcements now includes creator deals and, just this week, broad partnerships with legacy media brands for the kind of low-effort video they typically dump on YouTube.