The announcement was made during the presentation of the platform’s co-CEO, Ted Sarandos, at the Cannes Film Festival.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed that the first ad insertions are already happening on the streaming platform. The announcement was made during Sarandos’ presentation at the Cannes Film Festival, this Thursday (23).
The executive stated that the change will not be applied to all user profiles. “We’ve left a large segment of customers off the table. We’re adding an ad layer just for people who say, ‘Hey, I want a lower price and I’ll watch ads,'” explained Sarandos.
According to The Verge, earlier this month the Wall Street Journal reported that NBCUniversal and Google were the two main competitors. In Cannes, when asked about the matter, Sarandos only replied that the platform is in “negotiations with all potential partners” and suggested that the company could use a partnership as an interim measure while it builds its own ad business.
During the presentation in Cannes, the executive was asked if the price of Netflix shares could cause the company to be bought by someone else, since in the last six months, the company’s shares have fallen by 72.64%. In response, Sarandos said it was “always a possibility” but insisted there was still a lot of market to explore with Netflix.
The news of the inclusion of ads on the streaming service came in May, after figures presented in the balance sheet for the first quarter of 2022 showed the first drop in the number of subscribers in a decade, with the loss of 200 thousand paying subscribers.
At the time, an internal communiqué began to circulate through the company, pointing out that the platform intended to have ads until the end of the year and, with that, offer more affordable options to users.
According to the New York Times, Reed Hastings, co-founder and co-CEO of Netflix, said in April during an earnings call to investors that the company was open to introducing the ad model and would try to “figure it out in the next one or two years.” years old”.
There’s no word yet on when the ad plans will hit streaming for all markets.
