Netflix chief product officer prophesies demise of TV adverts
No strangers to shaking up the television market Netflix are at it again with a bold prediction that the ubiquitous adverts sandwiched between our favourite shows could soon be a thing of the past.
Neil Hunt, Netflix’s chief product officer has gazed into his crystal ball and seen a future ten years hence in which the growth of personalisation will see the unbundling of cable packages and increased personalisation of content – triggering the demise of commercials as we know them.
Speaking at Internet Week New York Hunt said: "Linear TV is ripe for replacement," pointing out that television is beholden to blockbuster prime-time programming which draws in the lion’s share of revenues, in contrast to internet TV which can cater to smaller audiences.
This also allows Netflix the freedom to experiment with different lengths and move away from the episodic format which current content must be shoehorned into.
Noting that an ad free model would be popular with consumers Hunt said: “Internet TV is divorced of the need of advertising revenue because we can develop direct relationships with the consumer."