Despite rising global economic uncertainties, tariff tensions, and the looming threat of a trade war, Netflix continues to remain optimistic about its advertising business and overall growth trajectory. Speaking during the company’s Q1 2025 earnings call, Co-CEO Greg Peters reported strong engagement and enthusiasm from advertisers in the run-up to the Netflix Upfronts 2025—the platform’s third annual showcase event, scheduled for May.

While Netflix acknowledges its current ad business is relatively small compared to industry giants, this size has become a strategic advantage. “That smallness probably provides us some insulation from market shifts,” Peters noted, suggesting Netflix is agile and better positioned to navigate advertising headwinds. Despite global economic concerns, Netflix expects to double its advertising revenue in 2025, leveraging a mix of upfront sales, programmatic ad expansion, and scatter inventory.

A core growth driver is the expansion of Netflix’s proprietary ad tech suite, which has already shown success in Canada and the U.S. It will soon roll out to 10 additional markets. According to Peters, this proprietary tech boosts advertiser flexibility and reduces barriers to campaign execution, enhancing the overall buying experience.

Netflix’s ad-supported journey began with the ‘Basic with Ads’ plan in 2022, and while it is now available in 12 countries, India remains an ad-free zone, with the platform offering four premium plans.

On the sports front, Co-CEO Ted Sarandos reaffirmed Netflix’s commitment to live event programming, with a sharp focus on high-impact events such as NFL, boxing, and WWE specials. Sarandos emphasized the need for economic viability in every sports partnership, suggesting Netflix is more interested in quality over quantity for live sports, and plans to scale this model globally in the future.

Addressing the rise of short-form and creator-led content, Peters noted that Netflix isn’t looking to imitate platforms like YouTube. Instead, it sees opportunity in the 80% of TV viewing time that neither Netflix nor YouTube currently serve. Peters emphasized that Netflix delivers better monetisation and storytelling opportunities for a certain class of creators and intends to maintain that advantage by continuing to support premium content and long-form formats.

In Q1 2025, Netflix reported $10.54 billion in revenue, marking a 12.5% year-on-year growth, showcasing the platform’s sustained momentum even amid global challenges.

Author: Sania Khan