At upfronts, Netflix says its vast library is what makes it ‘formidable’

Sports, romance, drama, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Netflix has it all, and don’t advertisers want the opportunity to be associated with everything?

At the streamer’s fourth annual upfront presentation this week, stars and execs emphasized the wide variety of content that calls Netflix home. This year’s event, called Get Closer, centered on Netflix’s ability to bring advertisers close to content that people love, highlighting the new and returning shows, films, and ad tools that make it all possible.

Co-stars Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein kicked it off by taking the stage a respectable distance apart before coming much closer together—a performance fit to promote their upcoming rom-com, Office Romance.

“Netflix brought me closer to my dream of making an old-school rom-com with Jennifer Lopez,” Goldstein said on stage, before slipping in a trademark piece of profanity: “I honestly can’t believe it happened, but here we are talking about it. It’s actually fucking mental.”

Amy Reinhard, president of advertising at Netflix, emphasized the platform’s scale: more than 250 million monthly active viewers around the world; more than 60% of new sign-ups, she said, are on ads plans. That number could soon increase, with the company set to expand its ad-supported tier to 15 new international markets in the near future.

After projecting $3 billion in ad revenue earlier this year, there’s plenty of room for advertisers to get involved with new placement offerings like vertical video on mobile, video podcasts, and Tudum, Netflix’s blog.

“If the last couple of years were about proving we’re a durable player, this year is about establishing ourselves as a more formidable one,” Reinhard said on stage.

Team mascot: Like many other presentations this upfronts season, sports were a mainstay. Elle Duncan, Netflix’s live sports host, reminded the crowd of the streamer’s existing programming with the WWE, MLB, and boxing, before announcements about next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup and a new football addition: After a successful run of Christmas football games as part of a three-year deal with the NFL, a Thanksgiving Eve game between the Green Bay Packers and the LA Rams will be coming to the platform this year, plus two other regular-season games, as part of a four-year extension with the league.

For sports fans who tune into the Puppy Bowl rather than the Super Bowl, Netflix also has The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. The folks in the room got a live preview, as Scotty, Ellie, and Cookie (a Pekingese, Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen, and Maltese, respectively), pranced about the audience. Cookie won the Toy Group in this year’s Westminster Dog Show, and Scotty’s father is the 2021 Best in Show winner, Wasabi.

“Such grace, such power, such shiny coats,” Duncan commented, in true sports host form. “Make some noise for these incredible athletes.”

On- and off-script: Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria declared that Netflix will invest $20 billion in “all kinds of entertainment” this year. Despite claiming that Netflix is not “just sports,” the scripted content featured a strong sports theme, with highlights on Will Ferrell’s golf comedy series, The Hawk, and renewals of Running Point and Quarterback.

Of 40 scripted series on the slate, 27 are returning, including a new season of Bridgerton set to premiere in 2027—a significantly shorter wait time between seasons than fans of the show may be accustomed to. The Regency-era romance also served as an example of successful recent brand partnerships. Bajaria also pointed to Netflix’s recent report, The Netflix Effect, which aimed to quantify the impact of its programming on “what people read, play, listen to, eat, wear, and find,” Bajaria said.

Several unscripted shows also got the spotlight, including the return of Love Is Blind and a new docuseries following Nick Cannon’s journey with raising 12 kids. Judging from the murmurs generated in the room at least, it may make for riveting viewing.

Ad it up: Not to be left out of the ongoing AI conversation, Reinhard reminded the crowd of Netflix’s recent acquisition of Ben Affleck’s InterPositive, a filmmaking-focused tech startup. InterPositive’s AI-powered tools, she said, will “create deeper and more seamless integrations for YouTube.” AI also powers new Netflix ad tools and offerings, including personalized ad loads and frequency caps, a way to retool advertiser assets for different placements, and ad integration within shows and films.

Planning and buying ad inventory is getting updates, with a new Audience Insights API to help advertisers understand viewers’ habits more deeply, and expanded programmatic capabilities to Pause Ads and Live using Netflix’s Dynamic Ad Insertion technology, which can be bought via clients’ preferred DSP.

Sing along: Perhaps the most notable moment of the presentation was Will Forte’s rendition of “Golden,” the hit song from KPop Demon Hunters, which preceded a final announcement from Reinhard: Netflix’s megahit movie is getting the live treatment with a world concert tour in partnership with AEG Presents.

It’s potentially welcome news for anyone with kids who haven’t stopped singing that song—and perhaps bad news for anyone who thought their kids would eventually stop singing it.