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Two top Netflix executives open up about the streaming giant's latest changes. They will be embracing AI

Per Variety, Netflix chief product officer Eunice Kim and chief technology Elizabeth Stone recently discussed the nuances of the streaming platform's latest overhaul, including the introduction of a new OpenAI-powered chatbot. The changes, which took place for the Netflix TV homepage on Wednesday, have been described by the streaming platform itself as "simpler, easier and more intuitive," and were made in a bid to more prominently feature Netflix's ever-expanding lineup of games and live events.

"Our current TV experience was built for streaming shows and movies," Kim explained. "This [homepage] is designed to give us a more flexible canvas now and in the future. Take live and games, for example, with on demand you can watch at your convenience. With a live event like the NFL on Christmas Day, you want to catch the...

If you’re a Netflix subscriber who struggles to find your next binge amidst an ever-growing ocean of content, the streamer’s new look might get you excited. A redesigned homepage will bring more granular information to Netflix’s TV app, while a fresh feed of infinitely scrolling vertical videos will dole out recommendations for mobile app users.

Netflix Chief Product Officer Eunice Kim and Chief Technology Officer Elizabeth Stone previewed the design update in a presentation uploaded to the Still Watching Netflix YouTube channel. Kim described the new look as a “clean and contemporary design” that will reflect the evolving nature of Netflix’s content offerings.

Individual entries will get more tags, notifying users about shows and movies that have won awards, topped Netflix’s viewership rankings, or recently arrived on the platform. That level of information will be particularly useful for live events, since users will be able...

Among the many challenges in the world streaming, one of the most persistent is discovery. We’ve all spent an hour scrolling through thumbnails to find something you and your partner can actually agree upon to watch. Now Netflix believe generative artificial intelligence can help with that process.

Netflix announced on Wednesday its latest overhaul of its TV homepage. While many of the changes are aesthetic and designed to make it easier to find information you need or the My List tab, it’s also partnering with OpenAI on a chatbot that will give you recommendations based on prompts in simple sentences. You can say, “I want something funny and upbeat,” and it will give you some options. We’ll be waiting for the person who goes viral when that prompt inevitably tells you to watch “Adolescence” or “Baby Reindeer.”

But the TV homepage will also now have TikTok-style...

Netflix is rolling out an overhaul of its user interface, including a beta version of its search function that adds generative AI tools.

A prevailing objective of the revamp, which the company plans to phase in across the world “in the coming weeks and months,” is to more seamlessly deliver programming recommendations for subscribers.

Chief Product Officer Eunice Kim and Chief Technology Officer Elizabeth Stone detailed the updates during a virtual presentation.

Kim described the new Netflix look as “still the one you know and love – just better.”

One highlight of the revamp is an increase in information attached to individual titles, with identifiers like “Emmy Award winner” or “No. 1 in TV Shows.”

The AI search tools, which are initially only on iOS in beta, will also accommodate more conversational inquiries from viewers, like a request for “a scary movie – but not too scary” or “I want something that’s funny and upbeat.

Netflix is launching a revamp of its TV homepage Wednesday, which boasts a “simpler, easier and more intuitive design,” per the streamer. The design is in part meant to make it easier for Netflix to prominently feature its growing lineup of live events and games.

In addition to changes made to the TV experience, Netflix will begin rolling out new features on its mobile app, including an OpenAI-powered chatbot search function that is in a small opt-in beta phase, as well as testing use of a vertical feed that allows subscribers to browse clips from shows and movies and then click over to the full program to watch in the traditional horizontal format.

“Our current TV experience was built for streaming shows and movies,” Netflix chief product officer Eunice Kim told reporters Tuesday in a press briefing on the new design. “This one is designed to give us a more...

The streamer is doing its best to put the big glitches associated with the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight behind it.

The year 2024 has seen some monumental shifts in philosophy from the world’s largest streaming service. After years of reluctance to dive into live sports streaming, Netflix has not only struck a deal with the biggest sport of them all in the NFL, it has also agreed to become the global broadcast partner of the sports entertainment show “WWE Raw” starting in January. But after hundreds of thousands of Netflix users reported problems while trying to stream the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match in November, the streamer is once again trying to assuage concerns that it’s not up to the task of offering a live event every single week.

Key Details: Netflix touts the audience for the Paul vs. Tyson fight and says some of...

Netflix was sued this week in a class action complaint over the platform’s “streaming glitches” and other livestream hiccups while airing the highly anticipated Friday night fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul.

“Sixty million Americans were hyped to see ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ versus YouTuber-turned-prizefighter Jake Paul. What they saw was ‘The Baddest Streaming on the Planet,'” the lawsuit, which was filed Monday in the 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Hillsborough County, reads.

Legal docs, obtained and reviewed by TheWrap, go on to state that the platform “delivered the first punch of the night, to its customers, with unrelenting ‘buffering’ and blocked coverage” and added that the “most hyped fight in boxing history” ended up being a “record night” not because of the contenders but because of the money Netflix “stole.”

While delays in the livestream were reported and addressed, the streamer...

In a memo for employees, Netflix Cto Elizabeth Stone acknowledged there were some issues in delivering the Paul vs. Tyson fight to viewers.

The public line Netflix toed after its livestream of a boxing match between YouTuber Jake Paul and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was that from a ratings standpoint, the fight was a massive success. The streamer said that 60 million people watched the match, but tens of thousands who tried experienced buffering issues or some similar problem with the stream. The company is acknowledging that its stream of the Paul vs. Tyson fight was a bit of a disaster in some respects, but is confidently moving forward with plans to stream two NFL games on Christmas Day.

Key Details: In an internal memo, Netflix’s Cto said the stream saw “technical challenges,” and was a “poor experience” for some viewers. The NFL has had conversations with Netflix about the issues,...

Here's Why the Netflix Executive Considers Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson a Huge Streaming Success - Main Image

On the premiere day of the most anticipated boxing match on Netflix, the streaming platform crashed on several occasions much to the chagrin of its subscribers. But here's why the Netflix executive still sees Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson's colossal match as a streaming success for them.

Netflix Crashed During the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson Boxing Spectacle

The former YouTube influencer Jake Paul came up against legendary Mike Tyson live on Friday, November 15. As unexpected as it sounded, subscribers still tuned in to see what all the fuss was about.

As customers joined the live streaming of their heavily anticipated fight at AT&T Stadium, fans complained throughout the broadcast about how much their streaming platform froze or crashed.

However, despite the implication of the streaming failure, Netflix Cto Elizabeth Stone...

The National Association of Broadcasters has seized on on Netflix’s tech issues in last Friday night’s live stream of the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing match.

With some 60 million global households tuning in for the long-awaited fight in Arlington, TX, the signal became blurry, buffered or altogether unavailable for many viewers, according to a flurry of social media posts.

“You were probably expecting exciting nonstop action,” Alex Siciliano, SVP of Communications for the broadcast lobbying organization, wrote Monday in a blog post. “Instead, what transpired was far more disappointing – a viewing experience marred by glitches and buffering from a popular pay-tv service trying its hand in live sports.”

Netflix is getting set to expand its presence in live sports and sports-adjacent programming, with a doubleheader of Christmas Day games and a multi-year deal with the WWE for Raw kicking off in January.

Nab lobbies the government on behalf of...

Netflix may have gotten 60 million households to watch its fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, but it did not reveal how many of those households were cursing the streaming service in frustration as they endured buffering issues while trying to watch the heavily promoted clash.

Howard Stern is warning the streamer to get its act together before it attempts to stream two marquee NFL games on Christmas Day.

“People are pissed,” he told his SiriusXM listeners Monday. “You fuck people’s football, there is hell to pay. You better not. I don’t know how this stuff works, but you’ve got to make sure it works.”

As Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy wrote on X: “Im in the classic torture chamber where I cant tell if my internet keeps going out or whether #netflix is just constantly buffering and unwatchable for everybody,” he wrote on X earlier in the night before later adding,...

Friday night’s Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing match was both a triumph and a tragedy for Netflix. The fight saw 60 million households tuning in for the live stream — and millions more tried to, probably.

Netflix’s reach for its live-streaming ambitions still exceed its grasp. Some attempts (the Tom Brady roast!) saw success while others (the “Love Is Blind” reunion special) did not; that Netflix pro-am golf tournament was just lame. And on Friday night, Netflix Live’s biggest moment to date, the streamer’s tech, talent, and general approach let users down.

The biggest issue of Tyson vs. Paul was, of course, a bandwidth supply that simply could not keep up with demand. Kind of a humblebrag, right? We have so many members who tried to watch our marquee event that it blew up our best-in-class servers. You and I were pissed; NFL executives, who have entrusted...

Netflix and the WWE are getting ready to rumble, with “Monday Night Raw” debuting live from Los Angeles’ brand-new Intuit Dome on Jan. 6. at 5 p.m. Pt/8 p.m. Et.

The premiere episode, which comes after the two parties struck a 10-year, $5 billion media rights deal, will feature some of the biggest names in wrestling, including John Cena, WWE champion and “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, Cm Punk, Bianca Belair, as well as many other WWE Superstars and surprise guests.

The partnership with Netflix will bring WWE’s year-round content to fans outside the U.S., including “SmackDown,” “Nxt” and premium live events such as “WrestleMania,” “Royal Rumble” and “SummerSlam.” Rapper and songwriter Travis Scott revealed during his sold-out concert at ComplexCon in Las Vegas that his new music will serve as the theme song for Raw.

Tickets for the premiere episode go on sale Nov. 22 at 10 am Pt/1 pm Et via TicketMaster,...

Netflix is addressing issues with the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul boxing match.

The big fight on Friday night (November 15) brought in 60 million viewers, but was plagued with freezing and buffering issues, as well as crashing.

In a note to employees, Netflix Chief Technology Officer Elizabeth Stone admitted that there were problems.

Keep reading to find out more…

“This unprecedented scale created many technical challenges, which the launch team tackled brilliantly by prioritizing stability of the stream for the majority of viewers,” the Cto wrote to employees, according to Bloomberg. “I’m sure many of you have seen the chatter in the press and on social media about the quality issues.”

“We don’t want to dismiss the poor experience of some members, and know we have room for improvement, but still consider this event a huge success,” she added.

The next big Netflix live event will be on Christmas, when the...

Netflix’s first boxing match, between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, was a big success in terms of live sports coverage. 60 million households worldwide watched it, but Netflix still struggles with streaming.

The historic show of the big streaming service showed both the pros and cons of getting into live sports entertainment. Netflix celebrated the event’s huge reach, even though many watchers had problems with the technology that messed up their viewing.

In a private message, Netflix’s Chief Technology Officer, Elizabeth Stone, talked openly about the service problems. “This unprecedented scale created many technical challenges,” Stone wrote, admitting that while the event was mostly a success, some viewers had trouble with the streaming.

People who watched the famous match said they had many problems, like screens that wouldn’t freeze, scrolling that wouldn’t stop, and system crashes. Netflix admitted to these problems in public, and Stone made...

Netflix is adding new subscribers at a torrid pace, as its password-sharing crackdown continues and as it makes moves that could push subscribers toward its nascent advertising tier.

The company reported 9 million new subscribers, with revenue of $8.5 billion and operating income of $1.7 billion. The company had reported 5.9 million new subscribers last quarter, thanks in part to its crackdown on sharing passwords.

Wall Street estimates for its Q3 had been for $8.5 billion in revenue, operating income of $1.9 billion, and net adds of 5.9 million subscribers.

Wall Street has taken a muted approach to the streaming giant since its blockbuster Q2 earnings report, as concerns about the Hollywood strikes and the slow development of the ad tier weighed on the company.

Netflix acknowledged the uncertainty in its quarterly shareholder letter.

“The last six months have been challenging for our industry given the combined writers and actors strikes in the US,” the letter said.

What, you thought Netflix was going to stay out of this whole streaming price-hike trend? In this economy?

According to a new report by the Wall Street Journal, the streaming leader is waiting out the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike before it increases the monthly rate for its ad-free users, which is most of us. Currently, Netflix’s most-popular (and least expensive) commercial-free plan (“Standard”) costs $15.49 per month. There’s also a higher-level tier (“Premium”) for $19.99/month.

While we do not yet know when the actors guild and the studios will agree on a new contract, the feeling and/or hope is it won’t be much longer now. After a nearly five-month writers strike finally came to terms with a tentative deal on September 24 (the WGA strike technically ended two days later), SAG-AFTRA met producers at the bargaining table on Monday. They are set to meet again on Wednesday.

After spearheading Netflix’s entry into advertising last year, veteran exec Jeremi Gorman has exited the company.

Netflix exec Amy Reinhard has been promoted to president of advertising, replacing Gorman, who had come to the company last year after previous stints at Snap, Amazon and Yahoo.

In addition to the ad shuffle, Eunice Kim has been upped to Chief Product Officer and Elizabeth Stone to Chief Technology Officer. Stone joined the company in 2020 to lead data and insights, while Kim came aboard in 2021 after holding exec posts at Google and YouTube.

Netflix, which staged a virtual upfronts pitch last May, said at that time that its ad tier had reached 5 million subscribers globally. While that represents barely 2% of the company’s overall subscriber base of 238 million, it is a key strategic pillar as the streaming giant also implements paid password sharing as opposed to letting customers share passwords for free.

After just more than a year at Netflix booting up the streamer’s ad business, Jeremi Gorman is leaving the company. Amy Reinhard, previously VP of studio operations, will succeed Gorman as president of advertising.

The change comes as Netflix announced two other notable C-suite appointments Tuesday, promoting Eunice Kim to chief product officer and Elizabeth Stone to Cto.

“I want to thank Jeremi for building our ads business from scratch. In just one year, she’s built the foundations we need to succeed — attracting world-class brands to Netflix and an incredible team,” Greg Peters, co-ceo of Netflix, said in a statement.

Gorman started at Netflix in September 2022, after almost four years as Snap’s chief business officer. She was tasked with building on the company’s work to launch its first ad-supported service as quickly as possible — and Netflix Basic With Ads launched in the U.S. (at $6.99/month) and 11 other countries in November.

Netflix has promoted longtime executive Amy Reinhard as the company’s new president of advertising, replacing current ad president Jeremi Gorman.

“In her nearly seven years at Netflix, Amy has proven to be an exceptionally strong leader with a deep understanding of the entertainment business and consumer tastes, as well as the ability to build lasting partnerships across the industry,” co-ceo Greg Peters said in a statement. “These skills, in particular her strength in TV and film, are critical for the success of our ads business.”

Reinhard joined Netflix in 2016 as the vice president of content acquisition. In that role, she led led global studio licensing for films and television series as well as local language acquisitions from Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India. In 2020, she was named vice president of studio operations, where she has overseen physical production, production facilities management, consumer products and creative services,...

Netflix is making changes to its C-Suite, naming new executives to oversee its nascent advertising business, as well as its technology and product divisions.

For starters, Netflix says that Jeremi Gorman will be departing as its head of ad sales, after about a year leading its ads business. Amy Reinhard, a seven-year veteran of the company (most recently working as vp studio operations), will become president of advertising.

“In her nearly seven years at Netflix, Amy has proven to be an exceptionally strong leader — with a deep understanding of the entertainment business and consumer tastes as well as the ability to build lasting partnerships across the industry. These skills, in particular her strength in TV and film, are critical for the success of our ads business,” Netflix co-ceo Greg Peters said in a statement. “I want to thank Jeremi for building our ads business from scratch. In just one year,...

Netflix has made two significant appointments to its C-suite, elevating Eunice Kim to chief product officer and Elizabeth Stone to chief technology officer.

Kim will oversee all worldwide product efforts for the streamer, and Stone will manage its data and engineering teams.

“Elizabeth and Eunice have strong track records at Netflix and more broadly within the technology industry,” said Greg Peters, co-ceo of Netflix. “Together they will be leading a hugely important part of our service so I’m excited to see all the ways in which they can improve the Netflix experience — making it even easier for people to find the right movie, series, or game at the right moment.”

Kim joined Netflix in 2021 as head of the Consumer Product Innovation team. She previously spent 10 years in product leadership roles at Google Play and YouTube. Kim also served at several tech startups as well as PepsiCo and Adobe Systems.

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An apparently disgruntled New Jersey father leapt to his death on Monday with his two young children in his arms in what police have called an attempted murder-suicide — but the man’s social media posts show a different side of the once-doting dad.

“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of how I lived in, or the kind of car I drove … but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child,” John Spincken, 37, wrote of his oldest son in a November 2014 Facebook post.

Police...

Authorities say it’s a “miracle” that two little boys survived a 100-foot fall Monday night from a New Jersey bridge that killed their apparently disgruntled father after he leapt from the structure with the children in his arms.

John Spincken, 37, was pronounced dead at the scene after he jumped from an overpass near the Wanaque River on Interstate 287 following an argument with his wife, police tell People.

But his children — ages 1 and 3 — survived the fall, a fact Pequannock police Capt. Christopher DePuyt says has left authorities a little stunned.

“They did make contact with some trees and foliage on the way to the ground,...

Kerri Walsh has taken home two Olympic gold medals in beach volleyball with partner Misty May-Treanor.

But she has two even bigger accomplishments to her name: Sons Joseph Michael, 15 months, and Sundance Thomas, 3 months, with fellow volleyball star Casey Jennings.

In her final blog, Walsh, 32, wraps up her experience writing for you here at People Moms & Babies — and leaves you with a few of her favorite quotes about motherhood.

Joseph and Sundance – Courtesy Kerri Walsh

This is my last blog, ladies and gents. I want to thank you for checking in with me from week to week. I want to thank you for your kindness,...

There's no let-up for Hollywod's most controversial director – the sequel to Wall Street, a documentary about Hugo Chávez and his most ambitious and personal project to date, the secret history of America

Oliver Stone is a man's man. Of this I have no doubt before meeting him. Not just because of his status as a sort of latter-day Ernest Hemingway, an action man with a reputation for women and drugs who won the Purple Heart for bravery in Vietnam, and then an Oscar for reproducing his experiences on celluloid. But because the most compelling sequences from his latest film, a documentary called South of the Border, show him hanging out with Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, chewing the cud about politics and war, talking very much mano a mano.

It's an impression that's reinforced moments before I meet him in his Los Angeles office when the photographer appears and shows me...