Netflix’s leadership team looked shaken. The blistering 10-year growth streak that had made it a Wall Street darling came to an abrupt end in the spring of 2022 with the revelation that it was losing hundreds of thousands of subscribers.

The streaming wars were at fever pitch, with Disney+ and other services launched by the established Hollywood studios all gunning for Netflix. Speaking to stunned investors on a video call on April 19 2022, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings began rattling off initiatives to reverse the slide.

Netflix would start cracking down on customers who shared their passwords with friends or relatives, an idea he had opposed in the past. Another proposal that Hastings had long dismissed — advertising — was now on the cards.