The short version

Reed Hastings predicted on January 21, 2020: “We want to be the safe respite where you can explore; you can get stimulated, have fun, enjoy, relax and have none of the controversy around exploiting users with advertising.” Verdict: Missed it. Missed. Hastings said tracking-heavy online advertising was something Netflix was "not interested in doing". In April 2022, after Netflix's first…

Prediction by

Reed Hastings

On January 21, 2020

“We want to be the safe respite where you can explore; you can get stimulated, have fun, enjoy, relax and have none of the controversy around exploiting users with advertising.”

Follow-up

Missed. Hastings said tracking-heavy online advertising was something Netflix was "not interested in doing". In April 2022, after Netflix's first subscriber loss in a decade, he reversed on the earnings call: "Those who have followed Netflix know that I have been against the complexity of advertising and a big fan of the simplicity of subscription. But as much as I am a fan of that, I am a bigger fan of consumer choice." Netflix launched Basic with Ads in November 2022; advertising is now a core growth business for the company.

From the High Caliber AI network — see the AI for PR module in the course.