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Netflix is surprisingly upfront about its upfront plans.
The company is set to make its second upfront presentation this May, and in an earnings call today, Netflix’s leaders explained exactly what to expect.
Typically, upfront week presenters are somewhat clandestine about the contents of their presentations ahead of the annual advertising event; however, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos was an open book when teasing Netflix’s first looks and content clips marketers can look out for.
According to Sarandos, the company will showcase a slate of upcoming projects, including new seasons of Bridgerton, Sweet Tooth, That ’90s Show, Dead Boy Detectives, Shane Gillis’ series Tires and unscripted events such as a roast of Tom Brady.
“We’re excited to go and share with advertisers this incredible slate that we’re very proud of,” Sarandos said.
The presentation also includes a peek at the second half of the year, according to Sarandos, with looks at Cobra Kai, Emily in Paris, Outer Banks, The Night Agent, Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and Squid Game Season 2, which Sarandos called, “Our big one.”
Greg Peters, Netflix’s other co-CEO, noted that the upfront will be an “opportunity to reengage with advertisers and look at the fundamentals of what our offering is.”
That offering includes an ad tier that’s continuing to grow.
Per its earnings report, Netflix announced that its ad tier had 65% growth quarter over quarter, following two quarters of growth of around 70% each. Additionally, 40% of all signups in markets where the ad tier is available are going to the plan.
In January, Netflix revealed it had 23 million monthly active ad tier users. Of course, that’s just a small part of Netflix’s overall scale.
Netflix’s earnings call revealed it added more than 9 million paid members in the first quarter, reaching around 270 million paid memberships globally. And the company’s leaders acknowledged the need for more ad-tier growth.
“We’re rapidly growing scale, as we mentioned. That’s the No. 1 request we’ve had from advertisers,” Peters said, adding, “We’re making progress on technical features like measurement on ads products, so we’re excited to get that out there.”
Adding ad-tier capabilities
In its earnings letter to investors, the company outlined three areas where it’s building on its measurement offering, including optionality, driving ROI and maintaining a privacy-safe environment.
Netflix already works with Nielsen One, EDO, IAS and Double Verify, and the letter noted that three new measurement providers would be coming.
These include Lucid (Cint), which will survey consumers exposed to advertising on Netflix and show a lift in upper funnel metrics such as brand awareness, ad recall, favorability, consideration, and brand attributes; Kantar, in partnership with Microsoft, to evaluate brand awareness, recall and consumer sentiment; and NCSolutions to leverage grocery and drug store shopper card data for a look at the incremental lift in sales tied to Netflix ads.
“This is an opportunity to bring all that progress in a package to advertisers,” Peters said of the upfront. “And then, of course, to get input from them.”
Advertisers can also expect updates on the company’s ad formats and capabilities, which include third-party verification, Top 10 targeting, binge ads, title sponsorships and the recently announced pause ads.
When looking at the ad tier, Peters added that there is “plenty more” to do to “realize the potential” Netflix has in the space.
“We’re growing off of a relatively small base in terms of the impact against an already big and substantial business, so even though it’s growing quite quickly, it takes a while to grow that into the point where it’s material,” Peters said. “We look forward to that increasing in ’25 and then increasing further in ’26 and beyond.”
Netflix makes its pitch to advertisers on May 15, with a Netflix Experience event also taking place on May 16.
Though this will be the company’s second upfront presentation, it will be its first in-person event. In 2023, Netflix switched to a virtual presentation amid the Hollywood strikes.
