. >> saudi arabia, the ceo of netflix reed hastings, defended their decision.lled an episode of one of their shows critical of the crown prince bin salman on their platform in saudi arabia. and here's what reed hastings had to say about that. >> we're not in the news business. we're not trying to do truth to power. we're trying to entertain. >> we're trying to entertain. he drew a line and said if they were asked to pull gay content they wouldn't. that's where their line is. so what exactly is reed hastings saying here. >> i was in the room when he said this yesterday and i just have to tell you, it was immediately apparent he said something really controversial that was going to light up twitter. my inbox started getting flooded with not just journalists but media executives and lawyers saying did he really just say that, that is true? we are running head long into a debate about how american companies do business with countries like saudi arabia, like china, where they have their own sort of world view, their own sort of beliefs about the freedom of speech an

describe reed hastings. >> guest: reed is a genius. i will immodestly say i'm a pretty good early-stage entrepreneur and i'm probably in the top 1% but reed is in the top 1% so he's phenomenal and he's a late stage on for nora. he has the whole package but what was fantastic about working with reed is how the two of us work together because in many ways we brought accommodation of skill sets and attitudes. i came from the marketing where my entire expertise how things we said and did will be received by customers and reed brought understanding of how he could deliver a new and different ways and ultimately do it at scale and we brought a culture which we shared the radical honesty and we could argue cats and dogs but as soon as we stumbled on the right thing immediately forget whose idea it might have been and who had raised one objective and immediately fall behind what was so obviously the right idea. he was a great partner and weighs one of the smartest things i read it and flex was make room for him to come in full-time and i did.

describe reed hastings. >> guest: reed is a a genius. what can i say? i will immodestly say i'm a pretty good early-stage entrepreneur. i'm probably in the top 1%, but reed is in the top one-tenth of 1%. not only that, he is phenomenal in the early-stage article and he's phenomenal as a late stage entrepreneur. what was fantastic about working with reed is how the two of us work together. because in many ways we brought the combination of skill sets and attitudes. i came from the world of marketing but my type expertise was empathy, understanding how things we said or did overpriced or offered would be received by customers. reed brought this understanding of how we could actually deliver those things in new and different ways, and ultimately do it at scale. the two of us also brought a culture which we shared of this radical honesty. we could argue like cats and dogs, a thin as soon as we stumbled, immediately forget whose idea it might've been. who had race what objective animatedly fall in behind what was obviously the right idea. he was a great part

describe reed hastings. >> reed is a genius. what can i say. i will modestly say i'm a pretty good early-stage entrepreneur. i am probably in the top 1%, but , reed is probably in the top one 10th%. in early-stage entrepreneur. phenomenal is a late stage entrepreneur. he has the whole package. what was fantastic about working with readers how the two of us work together. in many ways, we brought a combination of skill sets and attitudes. i came from the world of marketing where my entire expertise was empathy. understanding how things we said or did would be received by customers. reed brought this understanding of how we could actually deliver those things in new and different ways and ultimately do it at scale. and the two of us also brought a culture which we shared of this radical honesty. we could argue like cats and dogs but as soon as we stumbled upon the right thing, immediately forget whose idea it may have been. who raised what objective and immediately fallen behind so obviously the right idea. he was a great partner. i think in many

describe reed hastings. he is a genius. will modestly say i am a pretty good early-stage entrepreneur. i am probably in the top 1%. reed hastings is in the top 1/10 of 1%. he is phenomenal early-stage or late stage. he has the whole package. what was fantastic about working with him is how the two of us worked together. we brought a combination of skill sets and attitudes. i came from the world of marketing where my entire expertise with empathy, understanding how things we said or did were priced or offered would be received by customers. he brought an understanding of how we could deliver those new and different ways and ultimately do it at scale. the two of us also brought a culture which we shared of this radical honesty. we could argue like cats and dogs then as soon as we stumbled on the right thing, we would immediately forget who idea it was. immediately for an behind what was obviously the right idea. he was a great partner and in many ways, one of the smartest things i ever did was make room for him to come in ful

reed hoffman said over and over again the more the merrier >> reed hastings. >> reed hastings >> couple>> enough with the friends enough with the friends. >> they were collecting nice sized checks from netflix for a long time. >> right but no more. now it is, like, look, there is only so much money >> there it is >> how much money do you have in. >> that's the question >> isn't that the issue? >> that's ought there for the consumer now they add up to -- depending what you want to choose and what level of service you want, it can add up to a significant amount of money for the average family. >> you saw the harris poll yesterday. harris poll said that average americans are willing to spend how much per month $44. >> i have the $50 skinny bundle from verizon i only get -- what >> a few thoughts here, though. >> here we go. >> really? you've been talking for five minutes. i can't say one word >> you know why i was talking? because you were doing this. >> i was looking at something important. >> i apologize. >> the fact is -- >> are you my father >> the amount of money spent on content is r

my co-founder, reed hastings and i were brainstorming ideas, and they were crazy ideas. things like customized shampoo, preformulated dog food one of the ideas was video rental by mail, which was equally crazy, as crazy as custom shampoo and dog food. but what turned it around was all of a sudden this thing called the dvd arrived we could mail a dvd for the simple price of a first class stamp, and that was the seed for netflix. >> at the time it was blockbuster that owned that market that was our weekend we'd rent movies and bring them back how did you think you could take on blockbuster, or did you >> the funny thing is, i called this book "that will never work." that was the universal response. my own wife told me that will never work but the reason was simple. there was a blockbuster on every corner, 9,000 blockbuster stores but reed and i had a hint that blockbuster was vulnerable, because we believed that their customer experience left, well, let's say it left room to be improved upon. we thought by having a full selection, by having better customer service, that we

specific today about how many people have signed up early and we're not changing our guidance. >> reed hastingsu subscribed to apple tv plus are you watching your rivals >> nice to hear reed say that. that's a ringing endorse mernts. i'm a netflix subscriber i can admit that i also have availed myself of apple tv plus as well. i got that free as i got a new device >> just a last question. >> that's a good idea. >> there's a lot of talk about how many different people are watching at the same time and reed hastings for many years said he wasn't worried about piracy or password sharing what's your approach to password sharing and piracy >> similar to what others are doing. something we'll be mindful of. we're set up a service that's family friendly. we expect families to consume four live streams at a time. we'll watch it carefully with various tooshlgs technology tools that we have available to us but it's obviously something that we have to watch. >> thank you so much for take the time with us we appreciate it and tuning into your earnings call which starts shortly. guys back to you >>> thank y

how long can the market give reed hastings this checkbook?ng globally. remember, traditionally we saw content being american and english-based, right in they've got however many subscribers globally, so they're not just creating content for the american or english markets, they're creating for markets in india and china and wherever else they are and selling subscriptions. and so that number's going to continue to grow, and that's a good thing. the reason i'm really still bullish on netflix is because they know exactly who their customer is. they have one customer, that's the streaming consumer. disney has multiple consumers, they have the streaming consumer, traditional television, the theatrical, theme parks and, yeah, there's support between each one of them, but netflix knows exactly who their customer is. maria: colin kaepernick wants to get back into the game. people are saying he's going to get another job and start kneeling again. how hard is it as a team owner or a league owner, whatever, to take on the risk of hiring somebody like a

ceo reed hastings said netflix is just getting started.id the company has been strong in series and now was getting strong in movies. those are the top global tech stories of the day. taylor: disney shares are up in leg trading -- late trading after reporting earnings. keynsiders report -- reporting. porter bibb's tech analyst who has been watching these companies for so many years. numbers, for good sure. >> for sure, but it was the dominance at the box office the prop those numbers up. >> what does that mean moving ahead? >> the theatrical movie industry is not going to last more than wherer 10 years, but disney has positioned itself, it will be the dominant content producer, distributor and streaming going forward and the market has finally caught up to bob iger and realized disney owns the space. taylor: we could talk about the earnings call at numbers, but in san francisco, no one cares. we just want to know about that disney+. >> they are going to lose money for at least four years, maybe a little longer. they are talking about reach

ago remember a couple years reed hastings said password sharing is something they have to live with because there are so much legitimate sharing. has netflix changed its tune? been fairly consistent in that they don't [no audio]to come backople will and eventually someone sharing will sign on, but netflix has reached a point in certain markets, especially like the u.s. whether -- where their growth is slowing and they can squeeze out extra growth if they go after people who are sharing will stop -- sharing. will this pushnt people to using illegal methods? >> i think it's a big risk in other countries and to some extent of the u.s. you haveyou have seen it drop is where netflix is possible. you are getting a good service with lots of different tv shows whereas piracy remains very high . extreme, i think you could see it spiked because if there is a new popular show what people feel like they can't access it without cable, they will more than likely find in the legal way to watch it. the lucas access to shaw netflix account? friends. other than my >> i will confess my mother is on my netflix

. >> i remember a couple years ago reed hastings said password sharing is something they have to liveith because there are so much legitimate sharing. has netflix changed its tune? >> they have been fairly onsistent in that they don't -- they want to judge newsers to not share the password but they don't want to upset users, they want to expose their shows to as many people as possible so more people will come back and eventually someone who is sharing will sign on. but netflix reached a point in certain markets, especially in the u.s., where their growth is slowing and they can squeeze out extra growth if they go after people who are sharing. >> to what extent will this push people to using illegal methods? >> i think it's a big risk in other countries and to some extent of the u.s. ou have seen it drop in places -- you've seen piracy tend to drop in places where paid video services like netflix are popular. one substitutes for the other, you're getting a good service with lots of tv shows, whereas piracy remains high in markets across the asian pacific and latin america. if they get

new tonight reed hastings, a prominent democratic fundraiser for 2020 candidates like pete buttigieg explaining why -- he says netflix is not trying to seek truth to power. the streaming services trying to entertain. conservatives along maintain that the extremes shows critical of the american right. new tonight the company that runs google and youtube is investigating executive handling of sexual harassment and other misconduct claims lose the probe comes after shareholders filed a lawsuit alleging the company directors play direct roles and covering up sexual misconduct by top executives. after winning control in virginia the democrats from a swift action on a host of liberal policies sparking conservative warnings. our panel debates next. .. .. ♪ >> shannon: the democratic shannon: democratic takeover of the state legislatures breathing new life into a proposed constitutional amendment, the equal rights amendment. trace gallagher is here to explain why the amendment is so controversial. >> for context there are laws currently on the books that offer protections for women like the

reed reed hastings has done a spectacular job globally.areness out, get it competitive, make it netflix at half the money, you got me. stuart: that is juggernaut. kurt, thank you very much, appreciate it. weir following your money, right-hand corner of your screen. the dow is. wwe, bringing women's wrestling to, saudi arabia, is that right? ashley: what did you notice about the video. they are fully clothed. first time they have ever been allowed to do this. they are dressing modestly in full body suits and t-shirts, to comply with kingdom's laws. interesting. this is the latest effort by saudi arabia to try to relax some of those very strict always, especially comes to women. women were finally allowed to drive last year in saudi arabia. they're allowed to join the military. a few days ago, they announced a man and a woman would be allowed to share a hotel room without proof of marriage. stuart: proof of marriage. ashley: without the certificate. things are changing, wwe, i guess it's a sign of progress. by the way it was inside of a stad

ceo reed hastings said netflix is just getting started. the company has been strong in series and now was getting strong in movies. those are the top global tech stories of the day. kathleen? kathleen: thank you so much. disney shares are up in late trading after reporting earnings. key insight of the report says losses of their direct to consumer unit widens. of the in part for calls disney streaming service. let's bring in our mediatech analyst, etc., watcher of these big media companies for so many years. porter, they have good numbers at disney, for sure. guest: very good numbers, but it was the dominance at the box office that props those numbers up. kathleen: what does that mean moving ahead? guest: the theatrical movie industry is not going to last more than five or 10 years, but where disney has positioned itself, it will be the dominant content producer, distributor over the top, and streaming. and the market has finally caught up to bob iger and realized disney owns the space. taylor: porter, we could talk earnings call and numbe

reed hastings says we'll spend more. they grow and grow to squeeze the market. the market is doubting it. getting into the the an anime play. we'll see. melissa: apple goes with all original content but it is does differentiate them. i mean, that is the lure on most things. you pick up, you go to prime because of the original content. you're excited about a show you can only see there. it is the same thing with netflix has an original. what do you think about apple's approach? >> i think it's a smart approach. remember you have apple tv which has an awful lot of content. the new programing, they have got some of the best directors, you know, oprah winfrey, steven spielberg, all these people. they're also investing in animation. they have a new product that is spin-off of "sesame street." it is helpsters designed to teach children about coding. can you imagine 3 and 4-year-old coders? i feel like a dinosaur. melissa: erin, who has the winning approach? >> some are direct competitors. apple, netflix, down sell phones and independent pods. you have to look where th

. >> how about this comment from reed hastings, don't look at sub -- >> that's a great book. >> alwayss. don't look at subscriber numbers to track competition. is he just trying to set the table like dial back your expectations he knows disney plus is here, he knows apple plus whatever they call it is here. you've g . >> you've got a company in disney with a great balance sheet, fundamental business, great earnings potion potentien those numbers be bumpy sure. from my perspective as a long-term guy, five years from now i'm owning disney at this price with this dividend, i'm here for the ride. i have no idea what it's going to do between now and -- >> i don't know about five years because iger won't be there in five years and he's one of the reasons i own it. >> i can change, but right now i'm very happy to hold it. >> i hear you. >> stock's up 10% in four years. where four years tag was in the low 20s. what's changed now they have disney plus. all of the other positives from four years ago, the movie studios in particular are there. i think it's going to be a good quarter. and bryn you

reed hastings says, we're not in the news business, we're not trying to do truth to power, we're trying to entertain, that's why they pulled it down. >>> 5:17 right now, and the 49er faithful these days are basking. as they continue to keep the momentum rolling, the so-called ambassador of the bay, e-40, is working to help keep players and fans pumped with this new song for you. take a listen here. >> ♪ >> he got those bars. >> the vallejo native is referring to the 49ers glory days and their old stomping grounds. this isn't the first time e-40 has put together a song for a bay area sports team. he remixed his song choices to the warriors' theme and it quickly became a dub nation staple. >> very cool. candlestick park. >> i still remember, san francisco, 49ers in the super bowl, cause they got gold. >> remember they used to do a team song, super bowl shuffle and all of those. >> i remember that! now we just leave it up to e-40. >> we will see if we are super bowl bound. don't want to jinx it just yet. >> not yet, but it's definitely feeling like football season around the bay area right

now ceo reed hastings says they are going to spend even more. john allison, come back on this one, please. you don't like all this spending and you don't like the stock at this level, do you? >> no. i like reed hastings, i like their team, i think it's an incredibly innovative company. don't get me wrong on that. but i think they are trying to chart a path with a lot of debt to fund content and that in and of itself might not be so bad if you didn't have very well-heeled competitors like amazon, apple, disney, coming into the market without that kind of debt load and competing for content and viewers' eyeballs. i think netflix is a stock we would avoid. i think it's got danger signs. stuart: okay. year-end rally, john says yes. netflix, he says no. might be going down some. john, thanks very much for being here on a very important day. we appreciate that. >> thank you very much. stuart: i've got three big names, they are going to report after the closing bell today. they are disney, go pro, activision blizzard. on your screens, premarket, they a

seat at netflix where i've been a director to close 20 years i had a front row seat of watching reed hastingshe leadership team at netflix crossing the chasm from dvds to streaming and do so in a way that surprised people. a second jump they made into creation of original content i basically liken transition that market expansion that zillow is going through right now where we have this hogue profitable business with this trusted brand and saying all right there's a technology disruption happening and we got be the ones to build the bridge across the chasm and get to the other side that's why we're going so hard and so aggressively but in a prudent way at the new opportunity and it's going extremely well >> do you think even further a step forward about other avenues you could go into with mortgages, other aspect? >> turns out the house transaction is the hub of a series of really big, important and potentially profitable transactions getting a mortgage the title. the escrow moving telecommunications services. all this happens and changes and is key to the house transaction. we're making inve

read, you know, who has been -- >> reed hastings. >> yeah, he has been throwing hail mary passes sinced it's worked for him. now he has a budget that's huge, bigger than anybody else's over time he will have to -- he will have to turn the dials to modulate that spend to where he has a really good business that doesn't churn out on him people will start experimenting with bundling with other services to reduce churn to make it more sticky distributors will start bundling on behalf of some of these people if, in fact, that reduces churn and makes the composite more desirable, more sticky. so it will evolve the same way that the cable business did and the business bundle is created, right? and as those new packages are created, the guys who have uniqueness will start extracting more and more share, the prices will go up and we will see this play again. >> exactly i mean, i'm not -- for our viewers, of course, to understand, you are not just talking about this idly, you own a significant stake in charter so you see it from the distribution side, significant stake in discovery so you see is

. >> still to come, reed hastings will take the stage at dealbook rnnference 5:00 p.m.ell" back anyway couple of minutes. servicenow put our workflows in the cloud. this changes everything. you're right sir... everything. no not everything, i mean you're still blatantly sucking up to me gary. brilliantly observed, sir. always three steps ahead. six steps ahead. sixteen. so many steps. you done? a million steps ahead. servicenow. works for you. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - [spokesman] if you've tried colleg(group cheering)shed, snhu lets you transfer up to 90 credits toward you bachelor's degree. - [woman] it doesn't matter how old you are, you can do it, you can finish. - [spokesman] finish your degree at snhu.edu by the way, she's the it wasnext mozart.g day. as usual we were behind schedule. but sophie's enthusiasm cannot be dampened. not even by a run-away donut. we powered through it in our toyota prius. because a star's got to shine, no matter what. it's unbelievable what you can do in the prius. toyota let's go places. >>> welcome back fox earnings are out and julia boorstin has the

the ceo, reed hastings, says netflix is just getting started.rong in series, now it is getting strong in movies. that is the bloomberg business flash. tom: thank you so much. it is a sunrise in washington, d.c. and that is in the direction of the capital, the library of congress, and off in the distance, suburbs like marlow heights. what you need to know is that there is no other topic this morning in american politics besides the suburban vote and the changing of political america. kathleen hunter joins us from queen victoria street here to look at the profound elections. we saw it the last time around. we saw at time around evermore. the suburban vote becomes absolutely key. what do the republicans need to do to regain suburban territory? >> it is a tricky position that republicans are in now. the types of voters that they are going to need to regain in 2020 if they have any hope of retaking the house or even trimming democrat's margin or keeping the senate is to really -- is the type of odor that -- voter that isn't necessarily a hard-core tr

we'll have a conversation with reed hastings from netflix in the middle of this streaming war with appleey plus next week we'll have our final conversation about the political moment we're in with hillary clinton. it is a full and packed day and i know we're going to bring it to you, so much of it live on the air throughout the day, guys. >> you're going to sleep well tonight. you know what i mean >> i hope so i hope so. >> isn't your mind mush after -- i can't imagine all of that. >> my anxiety and my mind might be mushed right now. >> both. no, but it always works out, andrew >> done this before. >> it's excitement, not anxiety. but i just -- >> you don't know. on the go. >> i know for myself i would be exhausted after all of those interviews it's worth it. >> we're looking forward to them it's been a -- it's been a long ride to get to today and i really think we've put together a remarkable group. >> no doubt. >> hopefully we'll get a lot of news and we'll be talking a lot about it tomorrow. >> did you get to see the calhoun stuff from yesterday to run past muilenburg? >> i did first

. >> at the conference earlier this month i asked netflix's ceo reed hastings about the prospect of theeaming giant buying a theater. this goes to our conversation. >> well, you know, you could buy a theater or two, but we're not in the business of theaters. we're in the business of pleasing our members on a global basis. when we produce a great movie like "two popes," "the irishman," we want to get it out. personally, we love theaters i watch a lot of movies in theaters it's nice to have a crowd especially when it's a comedy or horror like the scare thing if you've got a good audience again, we don't mind theaters. really, we're fine with theaters, it's just that they want exclusive window which would delay our release on netflix. if theaters want to carry netflix films once they're on netflix because people want to go out for the group experience, that's great. >> so they just, by the way, bought a theater in paris. >> leased a theater. >> that question was an informed question when i asked it because i was hoping he would tip us off to what was about to happen. my question is whether

and reed hastings made some comments >> this turned into one of the biggest things the cnbc deal book conference. can we take credit for it? >> we are all having fun together >> i take some satisfaction, some pride in my colleague >> that's so nice. heart warming. >> i'm taking these tapes. >> so much surprise. such crap. right kyle >> kyle on the camera. >> coming up, get ready for the trading day. we have a run down of the earnings and the data that could move the markets in today's session. "squawk box" coming right back >> announcer: today's big number, 75%. that's how many s&p 500 companies have topped earnings expectations so far this earnings season. better than the long-term average of 65% geico makes it easy to get help when i need it. with licensed agents available 24-7, it's not just easy. it's having-jerome-bettis- on-your-flag-football-team easy. go get 'em, bus! ohhhh! [laughing] c'mon bus, c'mon! hey, wait, wait, wait! hey man, i got your flag! i got your flag, man! i got your flag! it's geico easy. with licensed agents available 24/7. 49 - nothing! woo! robinwithout th

i like friends i feel like we are friends >> reed hastings that will be interesting about netflix. >> and hillary rclinton. >> adjusted earnings before everything >> and adjusted. and lyft said the same thing companies that are increasing price to sales and not earnings are getting killed by the market >> this is one of masuson's big investment >> this is happening to grubhub. they came out and the unicorn did really well. the street is looking for real growth and real earnings when you look at some of these, they are not getting positive. >> i don't even think we can use the headlines we used last adjusted before we take anything out of the cost that actually have to be paid. certain costs are included >> it is also two years out. >> i think that's the thing. >> they've been received in a very different way. >> you can basically make anything >> what are you writing off in there? >> when the clarity comes to that, the street can give them some confidence. >> we should give you an update on the trade conflict. china is pushing the united states to move more tariffs. cnbc has learned t

it would take care of some of the -- >> reed hastings said he would vote for bob iger. could have happened could have happened. >> and iger -- iger has a job, bloomberg does not, right? he's available. >> look, jack dorsey, what jack dorsey runs square and twitter i mean, you know, don't you think iger could run disney and the white house? >> that's not going to happen though either. but i don't think -- i honestly don't think bloomberg in the end will end up running. i think this is a -- i work for the mayor. i work for the mayor i think he has a better touch than people realize. everything that i ever saw is all behind the scenes. he never wanted to talk about -- he's done. his touch among the regular people is so -- i know regulars is -- i don't mean to condescend, it is so remarkable that if you ever have done any charity work with him, you're blown away about how well he fits in, no matter with who, no matter -- he is just a courageous man when i went to hear him give a speech, he said he was too old to run for president i guess you have candidates who are all -- w

don't think it is an active position where somebody is going to go in there and start beating up reed hastings bullet proof ceos. >> what do you think we take away from it >> i think we take away that an icahn or ackman is going to stamp this with approval. >> i think it's ackman because it fits a pattern that he has been doing he buys great companies now. he doesn't buy turnarounds he buys nike, starbucks, he buys birch, blue chips. it's a little beat up. it has some competitive issues it's going through netflix is a great company nike's a great company >> right. >> and i think that the pattern fits excuse me, ackman has said on his q3 call for persian holdings that he was building a new position, between 8 and 9% of his aum. that kind of fits what the size would be at netflix and he said he wants to top it off opportunistically. it's possible. i want to tap the brakes that nomura kind be of let the cat out of the bag thursday. >> what's the chance that it's not either of these guys no >> it's not likely too many people other than me do. our third point was in the stock in q2 and sold it in q