Netflix and Bill (Gates): Netflix's ad tier will be made with Microsoft

Netflix and Bill (Gates): Netflix's ad tier will be made with Microsoft
(Image credit: Netflix)

Netflix is teaming up with Microsoft for its ad-supported tier. The streaming giant has announced that Microsoft will serve as its "global advertising technology and sales partner."

Netflix announced its ad-supported tier back in April, following its first fall in subscribers in more than a decade. There's still no word on when it will launch (just "later this year") or how much it will cost, but we do know it will be cheaper than its current cheapest tier, which costs £5.99 ($8.99, AU$10.99) a month.

"Microsoft has the proven ability to support all our advertising needs as we work together to build a new ad-supported offering," said Greg Peters, Netflix's chief operating officer and chief product officer. "More importantly, Microsoft offered the flexibility to innovate over time on both the technology and sales side, as well as strong privacy protections for our members."

At the start of the year, Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers when it was expected to add 2.5 million. It's not the end of the story, either – it now expects to lose another 2 million subscribers for the period of April to June.

Joe Svetlik

Joe has been writing about tech for 20 years, first on staff at T3 magazine, then in a freelance capacity for Stuff, The Sunday Times Travel Magazine (now defunct), Men's Health, GQ, The Mirror, Trusted Reviews, TechRadar and many more. His specialities include all things mobile, headphones and speakers that he can't justifying spending money on.