Netflix will never host advertising or enter battle for live news and sport, CEO says

Streaming giant Netflix has pledged that it will never feature advertising on its site and has no intention of entering the battle for live news and sports broadcasting. "Our content is our crown jewel," said CEO Reed Hastings, speaking two days after the company won an Oscar for its Russian sports doping documentary Icarus and ahead of the release of the new series of Jessica Jones. "It's up to us to take [subscribers'] money and turn it into great content for their viewing benefit." Speaking at Netflix Labs Day, a rare press event at the company's headquarters in Los Gatos, California, Hastings stressed his opposition to "chopping up" the site's movies and TV shows to accommodate commercials. "Having a great experience... vastly outweighs the fact that one company is gaining a lot of influence," he said, alluding to Netflix's market dominance, now under renewed threat from rivals Amazon Prime, Hulu and Disney (bolstered by its recent multi-billion dollar takeover of Fox).