Netflix will introduce a subscription with ads.
A guest at the Cannes Lions International Creativity Festival, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed a rumor that has been around for some time: in the near future, the company will offer a new level of subscription at a reduced price, which will include advertising. Netflix has long declined this option, only to change their mind after losing 200,000 subscribers last quarter.
Sarandos explained:
NETFLIX WILL INTRODUCE A SUBSCRIPTION WITH ADS We have overlooked a large segment of the clientele, which is people who say, “Hey, Netflix is too expensive for me and I don’t mind the ads.” We will add a subscription with advertising, we will not add advertising to Netflix as you know it today.
In defense of Dave Chappelle
Ted Sarandos has also returned to defend the choice not to cancel Dave Chappelle ‘s specials from the service after the controversy sparked by his jokes about the transgender world:
We will never be able to please everyone, but that’s the beauty of on-demand: you can turn it off. The reason comedy is difficult is that we don’t laugh at the same things. We all cry about the same things, so the drama is a little easier to get right, but the comedy goes to taste.
Sarandos went on to say that “supporting freedom of expression is very important” and that he would fight to protect Chappelle’s contents “up to the Supreme Court”. Sarandos boasts that he has never removed a Chappelle special from the platform “anywhere in the world”, adding that “diversity of thought and expression must be absolutely defended. It’s good for culture, it’s good for society ”.
At the same time, the CEO admits he should have “been more understanding” of some Netflix employees when they said they were upset by Dave Chappelle’s claims. “I regret that, but the decision was very important, globally.”