Netflix rolling out Pause Ads; expanding ad plan availability
September 25, 2026



Ed Couchman, Head of Advertising UK, opened Netflix’s first UK Upfront – held in Central London on September 24th – with a call to brands and advertisers to get closer to the company’s growing business.

“The point is, we’re not the small challenger in this market anymore. Your customers are watching Netflix — and they’re not going anywhere. The only question is whether your media plans went with them,” said Couchman.


According to Barb, Netflix’s ad supported plan reaches over 14 million viewers in the UK alone – nearly one in four people nationwide. But more than that, they’re engaged: 86 per cent of them pay attention when they sit down to watch Netflix.

Anne Mensah, VP Content UK, shared what she believes to be the recipe to success, noting: “In this noisy media world, it’s not enough to just show up. You have to grab people by the heart. It’s the only way to get real attention. Real feelings. Real fandom. And that is what our shows do — again and again.”

Mensah charted the evolution of the UK slate from well-known titles such as The Crown, through to more recent successes like The Gentlemen. She spoke about the range and variety of programming available to UK members, and the authenticity that comes from being “deeply rooted” in the UK creative industry. And the results speak for themselves – according to Ofcom, this year Netflix passed the BBC as the first choice for UK audiences when they’re deciding what to watch.

She also highlighted a range of upcoming titles and made several announcements. Black Doves Season 2 was confirmed for November 5th, plus Charlie Brooker’s Blackmere detective series will be released in 2027. New commissions include scripted series Witch Hunt and comedy entertainment Hot or Cold. She also confirmed the long awaited heavyweight showdown between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in Cardiff this December.

Alongside the slate, Amy Reinhard, Netflix’s President of Advertising, underlined the importance of an “exceptional member experience” when it comes to keeping attention: “The magic of Netflix is the ability to marry art and science. The shows and movies people know and love, and the technology to reach them with the right message at the right time,” commented Reinhard.

She shared the latest updates to the offering available to brands and advertisers in the UK and wider EMEA region. Netflix Ads Suite, the company’s proprietary tech stack which launched in May 2025, has become “increasingly sophisticated” with new data collaboration tools, targeting and measurement solutions and the introduction of new formats. Pause Ads will be available programmatically across partner DSPs in October, and Netflix will expand demographic targeting capabilities to include income and household composition.

Reinhard ended by announcing Netflix’s ad supported plan will expand to nine new countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland) in EMEA in March 2027.

“We’ve got cutting-edge tech. We’ve got great entertainment. We’ve got the most engaged and attentive audience anywhere. We’ve proven we’re effective. And we’re ready to compete with anyone,” added Reinhard.

Magno Herran, VP Global Brand and Marketing Partnerships at Netflix, shared all the different ways brands and advertisers can get closer to Netflix’s stories and the people watching them, stating: “We have the most engaged audience, incredible reach, and the ability to bring just about any idea to life. Of course the right choice really depends on the problem you’re trying to solve.”

He gave a range of examples that demonstrated Netflix’s effectiveness: such as Domino’s Pizza, who experienced an increase in brand recall and favourability with their target audience following their sponsorship of the Fury vs. Makhmudov fight earlier this year.

He also unpacked the crucial role of Netflix’s Brand Creative Studio – a dedicated team of writers, designers, producers and strategists who co-create custom brand partnerships. Herran highlighted The Gentlemen’s Serve, as a key example of this. The multi-market campaign with Stella Artois was built around The Gentlemen Season 2, pairing the show’s Theo James with Stella’s global ambassador Sir David Beckham. It is part of Netflix’s partnership with AB InBev announced in September 2025.

Herran previewed a recent global study with System1, which found nine out of 10 of Netflix’s UK brand partnership ads landed in its top 1 per cent for long-term brand-building potential. Those same partnerships scored highly for short-term sales potential too, a combination Herran pointed out is unique. Partners can build their brand and drive sales in the same campaign – Netflix partnerships are ten times more likely than average to deliver on both at once.

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that when you entertain our fans, you earn the right to sell to them,” said Herran.