Netflix is attempting to alter and amend programming deals with major studios to allow series and films to premiere on its new ad-supported tier service.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the streaming giant is in talks with Sony, Warner Bros and Universal with the aim of renegotiating pre-existing deals to allow advertisements to be aired alongside popular films and series.
The news comes a month after Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos announced that the ad-tier would launch later this year. He stated that the new service would offer people requiring a cheaper subscription price an option that included advertising, explaining that the business had previously left a “big customer segment off the table”.
The streaming service is also seeking a industry professional to lead the ad-supported tier, with Comcast’s Pooja Midha and Snapchat’s vice president of sales Peter Naylor in the running for the role.
READ MORE: Reactions: Will Netflix’s plans to implement ads work?
Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings first revealed in an earnings call in April this year, that the streaming service had plans to roll out cheaper subscriptions by including advertising material in response to dwindling subscriber counts.
The streaming giant had lost 200,000 subscribers in the quarter prior to this announcement.
At the time Hastings said:
“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. And allowing consumers who would like to have a lower price, and are advertising-tolerant, get what they want, makes a lot of sense.”
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