Netflix founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings said Wednesday he was slow to come around to advertising on the streaming platform because he was too focused on digital competition from Facebook and Google . "So Google and Facebook were going to mop up the world — and they have in non-TV advertising." Advertisers were "desperate" for avenues in connected TV and internet, Hastings said, but Netflix was still on the sidelines. "We didn't have to steal away the advertising revenue. There are also free streaming services, such as Paramount's Pluto and Fox Corp.'s Tubi, which make revenue solely through advertising.

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