Netflix is in talks with top players for an advertising partnership, co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on Thursday.
According to a Reuters report the streaming giant has been in talks with Alphabet Inc’s Google and Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal for a potential partnership.
“We’re talking to all of them right now,” Sarandos said at the Cannes Lions festival event when asked about the possible new partner. “We’re not adding ads to Netflix as you know it today. We’re adding an ad tier for folks who say ‘hey, I want a lower price and I’ll watch ads’,”.
After losing subscribers for the first time in a decade in April, Netflix said it was looking at a cheaper plan with ads. The company is also moving to control shared passwords, while facing a harsh competition in the streaming business and consumers finding ways to spend less money on entertainment.
The cheaper version of Netflix, which according to reports could launch this year, would introduce an advertising-supported tier.
After Reuters’ report, Sarandos confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that the streaming company is speaking to multiple potential partners to help it enter the advertising business.
According to the Journal, sources close to the streamer have said that NBCU and Google have emerged as the top companies in the talks.
