• by Wayne Friedman , Yesterday

Netflix says it has finished its TV upfront advertising selling for the upcoming 2026-27 TV season scheduled to begin in a few weeks, and that it has “nearly doubled our ad commitments this year.”

This is according to a release from Amy Reinhard, president of advertising for Netflix, who says this was in line with expectations. She did not provide specific details on volume or pricing gains.

For the full 2026 calendar year, Netflix has been targeting $3 billion in ad revenue, effectively doubling its $1.5 billion in ad revenue of a year ago. 

The 'Upfront' advertising marketplace is when major brands typically buy 60% to 70% of their TV/streaming inventory needs in the summer ahead of the upcoming fall start of TV season.

Reinhard added that some key upcoming and existing popular shows were in high demand in upfront deal-making for brands.

The list includes “Love Is Blind,” “Big Mistakes”, “Bridgerton,” “Emily in Paris,” “Nobody Wants This” and “Running Point,” as well as upcoming feature films including “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew.”

In sports programming, the list includes more regular-season NFL games, which continue to post strong viewer/engagement data, as well as WWE, and MLB.

Reinhard says “upfront demand for the '2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup' was also extremely high, as we’ve sold out of game sponsorships and nearly sold out of all available in-game inventory.”

Netflix says Media Rating Council (MRC) has granted Netflix Ads Suite’s its first accreditation for “processing and reporting of U.S. in-stream video impressions amongst connected TV, mobile app, and desktop web.”

Currently Netflix, is estimated to command anywhere $25 to $65 or more for the cost-per-thousand viewer impressions (CPMs).

Sports programming -- especially the NFL -- commands the highest price.

Just behind sports programming the next highest CPMs goes to the most popular Netflix shows “Wednesday”, “Stranger Things,” and “The Night Agent,” which command anywhere from $45 to $55 CPMs due to high viewer engagement and sponsorship visibility.

When it comes to programmatic advertising availability, Netflix says inventory is now transacted through a number of demand-side platforms (DSPs) including Google Display & Video 360, Amazon, Yahoo or The Trade Desk.

The company says growing popularity in its "pause ads" is now available to buy programmatically across all DSPs.