Netflix partners with Microsoft to offer cheaper streaming plan

Adding advertising means Netflix will expose itself to some thorny issues, including debates around consumers’ personal data being harvested on a massive scale to target them with more lucrative, personalised pitches. — Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO: Netflix will work with Microsoft to launch a cheaper subscription plan that includes advertisements, the firms said on July 13, as the streaming giant fights to attract customers.

Netflix opted to develop the lower-cost offering after a disappointing first quarter in which it lost subscribers for the first time in a decade, and after years of resistance against the very idea of running ads.