आईसीटी समाचार
Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings said at the conference that the business is "very open to delivering even lower costs with advertising, as a customer choice," after years of resisting requests for an ad-supported streaming tier. According to reports, the firm is currently investigating the possibility and "trying to find out over the next year or two."
Hastings agrees that providing an ad-supported tier would be a significant shift in the company's approach, stating that he's been "against the complexity of advertising and a huge admirer of the simplicity of subscription" in the past. Hastings now promotes the concept of an ad-supported tier as something that "makes a lot of sense" for "consumers who want a cheaper price and are tolerant of advertisements."
Netflix seemed to be open to a number of things it had previously dismissed – co-CEO Ted Sarandos even sketched out what could be required for a long-rumored entry into live sports after losing subscribers for the first time in a decade. "I'm not saying we'll never do sports," he told Deadline, "but we'll have to see a route to creating a massive income stream and a tremendous profit stream with it," which is a substantial departure from Netflix's prior flat refusal.
Netflix would not be the first corporation to offer an ad-supported subscription option. Hulu, Peacock, and even HBO Max offer options that allow customers to pay less (or nothing, in the case of Peacock) in exchange for having their shows sometimes interrupted. Disney Plus will also have an ad-supported alternative before the end of the year, according to the company.
