Netflix wants to add another type of measure to its ever-evolving trove of audience measurement tools.
The streaming giant plans to introduce a new metric for advertisers that aggregates how many of its 190 million monthly active viewers in its ad-supported tier watched a particular commercial, Amy Reinhardt, the company’s president of advertising, announced Wednesday. Netflix defines monthly active viewers as “the number of members who watched at least one minute of advertising per month on Netflix multiplied by the estimated average number of people in their household.” This number is derived from Netflix’s own research.
For the past few years, Netflix has measured itself based on account profiles, or users, rather than the number of households that subscribe to the service. In May, the company announced that its ads had 94 million monthly active users, compared to 70 million in November 2024. Switching to household members rather than just accounts will obviously increase the number of viewers Netflix advertises to potential sponsors, but it remains to be seen how much faith Madison Avenue will place in this new metric.
The development comes as Netflix seeks to become more competitive with its peers in the fight to win ad dollars from Madison Avenue. While there’s no denying the company’s ability to develop compelling content, Netflix is less experienced than many traditional media conglomerates when it comes to advertising sales. The company, which makes up the bulk of its programming offerings in scripted dramas, comedies and movies, is busy building out its lineup of live specials and sports. This content, which viewers tend to stream alone at moments of their own choosing rather than together, is still something that many advertisers covet.
Media buyers say this dynamic weakens Netflix’s ability to extract advertising dollars from Disney, NBCUniversal and other media companies that can sell hours of live sports coverage. These acquisition executives suggest that advertisers are certainly interested in Netflix’s advances in ad sales, but point out that the company has probably been more successful with sponsorship deals for individual titles than selling vast amounts of inventory.
In recent months, Netflix has been experimenting with a talk show hosted by John Mulaney. TKO has signed a deal with WWE to stream “Monday Night Raw.” And they secured the rights to the Christmas Day game from the NFL. People familiar with the matter expect Netflix to announce a deal with Major League Baseball soon, giving the streamer the rights to air the annual Home Run Derby and Opening Day.
Netflix also has measurement agreements with Nielsen, iSpot, Kantar in the US, and other measurement providers around the world.
The company is also developing a lineup of advertising opportunities centered around programs that are more likely to be watched by a larger audience within a given time period. Over the next few weeks, Netflix will air the finale of Stranger Things and the new season of Emily in Paris.
Peroni Nastro Azzurro is sponsoring Emily in the U.S., while FanDuel, Verizon, Accenture, Tide and others will sponsor NFL games. Meanwhile, “Stranger Things” will benefit from multiple advertising links. PepsiCo unveils custom flavors of Doritos and brings back Gatorade citrus cooler. Target will also sponsor the show in the United States. In Latin America, Fiat will offer a “Stranger Things” themed car. Nestlé will unveil cookie packaging named after the series, and Unilever will unveil new Hellmann’s flavors.
