If Netflix’s Ad-Tier Audience Was A Country, It Would Rank Among The Largest On Earth

BusinessMediaIf Netflix’s Ad-Tier Audience Was A Country, It Would Rank Among The Largest On EarthByAndy Meek,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I report on media as well as its intersection with news and culture.Follow AuthorMay 16, 2026, 11:15am EDTEmily Rudd as Nami, Inaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, and Jacob Romero as Usopp in Season 2 of Netflix’s "One Piece."NetflixTwo things still stand out to me from the last time I interviewed Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph several years ago. I remember, for one thing, that we talked about Netflix’s history and Randolph’s early days with the company — and also his insistence to me that the streaming giant would never get into the ads game. At that point, it still seemed like subscriptions would be Netflix’s primary revenue driver for years to come.“Ads,” Randolph insisted to me at the time, “are a distraction, never an additive thing.”If that’s true, though, someone forgot to tell Netflix.Netflix turned advertising into one of its biggest businessesThe thing its co-founder once dismissed as unnecessary has actually become one of the company’s biggest growth engines today. Netflix revealed this week during its annual advertising upfront presentation that its ad-supported tier now reaches more than 250 million monthly active viewers worldwide — a staggering audience that’s grown from roughly 70 million users in 2024 and large enough that, if it were a country, it would rank among the biggest on the planet.Close-up detail of the Netflix app icon on an Apple iPhone screen.Future Publishing via Getty Images“If the last couple of years were about proving we’re a durable player,” Netflix advertising president Amy Reinhard said during the presentation, “this year is about establishing ourselves as a formidable one.”MORE FOR YOUShe also made clear that Netflix no longer sees advertising as a side business. “We’ve got cutting-edge technology, we’ve got great entertainme...