Can Netflix Win the Contest for Connected TV Ad Dollars?
The risks to Netflix’s future might be greater than they seem.
Rosen is the author of Medium Shift, tracking the transformations underway in the media business.
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During the company’s quarterly earnings presentation last Tuesday, Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings modestly—and accurately—characterized the company’s second-quarter results as “less bad.” After that, though, the restraint went out the window.
“It’s definitely the end of linear TV over the next five, ten years,” Hastings said. Chief Operating and Product Officer Greg Peters later told investors that the objective of the new advertising partnership with Microsoft was “to basically try and create a new ads ecosystem around premium TV, connected TV ads.” In other words: Don’t let the results fool you! The future is still Netflix’s to win.