Netflix targets global TV ad market as next business to disrupt

Netflix Inc upended the global entertainment industry about a dozen years ago with a streaming video service that rendered network television programming schedules and movie screening times all but irrelevant.

Now, Netflix is gunning for the last reel of the pay TV business: its estimated $153 billion pool of global advertising revenue.

The company and some analysts see its new, cheaper ad-supported service, detailed in a rosy quarterly report on Tuesday, as a way to lift revenue as customers trim spending amid economic gloom. As TV’s audience shrinks, it becomes less attractive for advertisers – and a plum target for Netflix to disrupt.