On Sunday night, sportscaster Bill Simmons will go live on Netflix for the first time. The episode marks the unofficial beginning of Netflix’s move into podcasting. Netflix’s embrace of podcasting is a major moment for the service. Yet it’s a far bigger moment for the podcasting industry, which is praying the experiment will work and turn Netflix into a major new buyer.

Reed Hastings was consistent, year after year. Any time someone asked the Netflix CEO when he’d introduce ads to his streaming service, he insisted that it made no sense. Netflix was a better service because it didn’t have ads, he would say.

That was when Netflix was growing.

Netflix's "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness" has been the talk of the pop culture world since the coronavirus outbreak forced people to stay inside

Netflix, the streaming-video juggernaut, is growing with astonishing speed.

Netflix has confirmed a major change to its video-streaming service, effective as of this week for at least some users: video ads for other Netflix series between episodes.