The next episode of the Netflix saga is going to be hard to watch.

Here's the deal: After losing nearly a million customers last quarter, Netflix has got to figure out a sustainable revenue plan to keep investors happy. And, as my colleague Frank Pallotta writes, that's going to mean peeling back some of the things that have made Netflix Netflix.

In other words, pleasing Wall Street is going to mean angering, or at least annoying, customers.

How?

First, adding advertising that interrupts your "Ozark" binge sesh.

• This is a huge shift. Even as recently as 2019, Netflix assured shareholders that being ad-free is a "deep part of our brand proposition."

• Cut to three years later, and the company is banking on a new subscription tier that'll be cheaper for customers (yay) because it's supported by ads (boo).

• Subscribers will have the choice to remain ad-free, but they'll be paying a premium for it, and that feels like less of a treat.

Then, cracking down on account sharing.

• The days of freeloading are numbered.

• Netflix is already experimenting with features to compel people to pay extra to share their accounts.

The next episode of the Netflix saga is going to be hard to watch.

Here's the deal: After losing nearly a million customers last quarter, Netflix has got to figure out a sustainable revenue plan to keep investors happy. And, as my colleague Frank Pallotta writes, that's going to mean peeling back some of the things that have made Netflix Netflix.

In other words, pleasing Wall Street is going to mean angering, or at least annoying, customers.

How?

First, adding advertising that interrupts your "Ozark" binge sesh.

• This is a huge shift. Even as recently as 2019, Netflix assured shareholders that being ad-free is a "deep part of our brand proposition."

• Cut to three years later, and the company is banking on a new subscription tier that'll be cheaper for customers (yay) because it's supported by ads (boo).

• Subscribers will have the choice to remain ad-free, but they'll be paying a premium for it, and that feels like less of a treat.

Then, cracking down on account sharing.

• The days of freeloading are numbered.

• Netflix is already experimenting with features to compel people to pay extra to share their accounts.