The skip button doesn’t apply to Netflix ads.
Around three and a half years after launching its ad business, Netflix is on pace to double its ad revenue for the second year in a row, set to reach $3 billion in 2026. In addition, its ads plan represents more than 60% of sign-ups in countries with the tier, and its programmatic business has grown to nearly 50% of its advertising as it has added DSP partners like Yahoo and Amazon.
As the company heads into its upfront event on May 13 in New York City, ads leader Amy Reinhard says the streaming giant is prepping to make its mark.
“We’ve been building over the past couple of years, and I would say that this upfront for us is really our stamp that we can compete with anyone,” Reinhard told ADWEEK. “And on a global basis, just really excited about how far the business has come and how much more opportunity there is for us.”
Those opportunities include the streamer’s massive live events on the way, including the third year of Netflix’s 3-year deal with the NFL for Christmas Day games and the Women’s World Cup coming in 2027. Plus, the company has increased its ad integrations in recent years, with brands having increasingly integral roles in its content.
Speaking with ADWEEK, Reinhard previewed the company’s upfront pitch, shared its strategy around the Women’s World Cup, and noted that more brand integrations and partnerships are on the way.
ADWEEK: What are the priorities heading into the upfront?
Reinhard: The biggest priority is just the communication of the fact that we’re three and a half years into this journey, and we’re really excited about this year. A year ago, we launched our adtech stack, and I truly feel like our offering to the market now is that marriage of art and science—marrying the best content, and now having our adtech be in a position where we can compete with everybody else in terms of our data tools, our planning capabilities, and really offering great solutions to the marketplace. I feel really good about where we are a year into launching this tech stack.
Speaking of that, at the last earnings call, the CEOs said the programmatic business is almost 50% of the ads business. How do you see that continuing to grow?
Yeah, it has been fantastic growth, considering we just launched that pretty recently. Ultimately, we want to meet buyers where they’re at, so we started out as a direct business, and we still have a very healthy direct relationship with a lot of our key advertisers. And if that’s the way that people want to work with us, fantastic. But ultimately, we just want to make sure that it’s easy to buy with us. For those who are in the programmatic space, how can we make it easier for them? How can we expand the data and measurement capabilities and give our partners more ways to buy? So you see that with the launches of Yahoo and Amazon over the last year.
