There have been rumors about a level of ad support for Netflix for some time now, but it only became official earlier this year when Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed the upcoming level. This obviously led to some discussions about who Netflix would partner with, because it would be very important for any advertising company to get their hands on Netflix. It turns out that this will not be an advertising company.
On Wednesday, Netflix announced on its blog that it is partnering with Microsoft for an upcoming ad-supported tier. Once a cheaper streaming option becomes available, Microsoft will become “Netflix’s global ad technology and sales partner.”
According to today’s announcement:
Microsoft has proven to be able to meet all of our advertising needs as we work together to create a new ad-supported offering. More importantly, Microsoft offered the flexibility to innovate over time in both technology and sales, as well as strong privacy protections for our members.
Plus, Netflix says it’s all about consumer choice:
These are very early days and we have a lot to go through. But our long-term goal is clear. More choice for consumers and a premium, better-than-linear brand of TV brands for advertisers. We’re excited to work with Microsoft as we bring this new service to life.
Unfortunately, we don’t know when the new ad-supported tier will actually launch. However, previous rumors suggested that the new variant would arrive before the end of this year. And with Microsoft ad-supported, it seems like all the parts for Netflix are lining up.
It will be interesting to see how popular this ad-supported tier is when it arrives.