As someone who hated TV commercials, nothing seemed more zen to me than my mail-in disc subscription to Netflix circa 2005. Not only were there no ads on the content (because it was on DVD); There was no advertising text anywhere, not even illustrations on the paper sleeves. It was pure cinema.
Those days are gone. There are no DVDs and Netflix’s advertising business is responsible for a portion of its rapidly growing revenue. If Netflix’s own claims are to be believed, its level with ads is seen by 250 million viewers per month. By my calculations, that’s about 3% of humanity, all within the 12 mostly rich countries where Netflix runs ads, which will soon be expanded to 27.
Netflix also stated around this time last year that Netflix, with advertising, was reaching 94 million people, more than double the declared audience. And the 2025 figure was more than double its audience claimed from May 2024. That would mean that ad viewership is absolutely increasing year over year.
To throw at least some cold water on Netflix’s claims, The deadline was written earlier this year. that Netflix’s ad-supported level had only grown 14% year over year according to research firm Digital i. That is a huge discrepancy. To explain at least part of that difference, note that Netflix bases its reporting (which is aimed at potential advertisers) on the number of viewers, not subscribers.
That Digital i report also said that only 40% of active Netflix subscriptions are ad-supported, which is also important to note. Netflix still doesn’t earn as much from advertisers as it does from subscriber fees. According to a last year’s story in the Wall Street JournalNetflix expected to earn $2.15 billion from ad revenue last year, compared with about $45 billion in total revenue by 2025—less than 5%.
So when you watch Netflix with ads, remember that every hour you’re looking at that screen, you’ll see up to five minutes of ads—up to approximately 8% of your viewing time. That’s how much of your life you’re giving up for something that gives Netflix only 5% of its revenue.
