netflix upfront presentation 2023

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Amid a writers strike, with virtually no acting and writing talent, the upfront presentations this week will be more subdued than ever. With events facing picketing by the WGA, Netflix last week decided to make its first ever upfront presentation virtual. Paramount months ago opted not hold an event in New York during upfront week and instead unveiled its fall schedule last week.

Below is the full schedule for the presentations and parties during upfront week. (Note: all times ET.)

MONDAY, MAY 15

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4 PM: Fox Corp. Upfront Presentation (3 PM coctails followed by reception) The Manhattan Center, 311 West 34th Street

6 PM: Telemundo upfront party featuring Nicky Jam The Glasshouse, 545 W 25th St., Floor 21

TUESDAY, May 16

11:30 AM: TelevisaUnivision Upfront Presentation Pier 36, 299 South St.

4 PM: Disney Upfront North Javits Center, 455 11th Ave.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 17

10 AM: Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront Presentation Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, 4 Pennsylvania Plaza

5 PM: Netflix Presentation Virtual

8 PM: YouTube Upfront David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, 150 W 65th St.

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Netflix canceled its in-person upfront, probably to avoid the WGA’s picket lines

After being tipped off by the nypd about strikers planning to demonstrate at its upcoming upfront presentation, netflix has shifted to a virtual-only event..

By Charles Pulliam-Moore , a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.

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Just a few months ago, Netflix was proud to announce that it was putting on its first-ever in-person upfront week presentation in New York City alongside other networks and streamers vying for advertiser cash, like NBCUniversal , Fox , Disney , and Warner Bros. Discovery . But after being tipped off by the NYPD about striking WGA writers planning to protest outside of the event, Netflix has suddenly decided to shift to an all-virtual presentation with no celebrities in attendance.

AdWeek reports that Netflix’s move to cancel its in-person upfront at New York City’s Paris Theater in favor of a new “produced to stream” presentation came after the streamer was made aware of the plans of local WGA members to demonstrate — plans that the WGA itself had shared with the NYPD. In addition to no longer taking place at the Paris Theater, the streamed event will not be attended by any talent working on Netflix’s shows, and it will not be followed by a reception afterward — both of which suggest that said talent did not want to get caught up in the optics of participating in a night of schmoozing with entertainment executives in the midst of a labor strike.

In a statement about the upfront demonstration, the WGA reiterated that its members are on strike and will remain so until the studios are ready to meet them where they are.

“We planned a legal, peaceful picket of Netflix’ Upfronts at the Paris Theater in New York City, where the streaming giant aims to sell advertisers using the content writers create, while at the same time refusing to negotiate a fair contract with those writers,” the WGA said. “Last week more than 1,000 WGA members, plus members of SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, and the Teamsters picketed outside Netflix’s office in New York. The Union will continue to picket Netflix and other Studios until the Companies are ready to negotiate a fair deal that addresses writers’ legitimate concerns.”

Disclosure: The Verge ’s editorial staff is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.

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Why Netflix Shifted Its First-Ever Upfront Event from In-Person to Virtual

Tony maglio, executive editor, business.

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Netflix was pumped up for its first-ever upfront, an in-person event set for Wednesday, May 17 at its own Paris Theater in New York City. It sounds like the WGA was equally excited to ruin it.

The striking WGA told the NYPD that they would disrupt the event, one person with intimate knowledge of the streamer’s upfront plans shared with IndieWire. The NYPD was worried about pedestrian safety, the person claimed, so Netflix decided to pivot the event to virtual.

And yes, those talks with the NYPD about protesting Netflix’s upfront happened, a WGA insider told us. The guild has coordinated all of its pickets with the police to ensure it has the proper sound permits and safety gates if necessary.  

The NYPD did not immediately respond to our inquiry on the matter.

It’s a major loss for Netflix. This would have been a chance to show off (in person) its revamped Paris Theater, which it’s renovated under a long-term lease since 2019, and lean into its AVOD commitment. Virtual upfront presentations are far less effective and less enjoyable than the real deal (trust us.). Annual TV upfronts are meant to dazzle the advertising dollars away from potential clients. As we’ve all learned in the past few years, dazzle dims over Zoom.

IndieWire asked a Netflix rep about the company’s costs incurred for the scrapped in-person event, but we did not immediately receive a reply.

Netflix’s upfront was — and still is — set for Wednesday, May 17 at 5 p.m. ET. Just now we all have to live-stream it.

The writers guild has steadily picketed Netflix since the WGA and AMPTP (The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) failed to come to a new agreement earlier this month. IndieWire was there on Day 1, outside the streamer’s offices at the corner of Sunset and Van Ness in Los Angeles. Find our video interviews from that initial protest here .

One of the union’s main beefs lies in the lack of residuals from streamers, with Netflix at the forefront. Streaming has also changed the game in terms of length of employment: Writers are now often contracted for fewer episodes due to the smaller-batch orders from digital platforms, the WGA says. And the pace is swifter as well, the guild argues — so whether one is paid per-week or per-episode, the checks are getting smaller.

Netflix is the newcomer this upfront season after it launched its “Basic with Ads” tier in late 2022. The company that swore it would never have commercials is suddenly a big, big fan of advertising. The WGA knew exactly what it was blowing up here.

As of this writing, next week’s respective upfront events for NBCU, Fox, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery, and The CW are all still being held live in New York City.

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Netflix advertising tier now has “nearly five million” monthly active users.

In its inaugural upfront advertising event, executives touted the the streaming service's growing ad tier, and unveiled new sponsorship options.

By Alex Weprin

Alex Weprin

Media & Business Writer

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Netflix knows it is in the early innings of the streaming advertising game, but it wants the ad world to know it isn’t a niche player.

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Netflix has been mum on how many subscribers the ad tier has (previous reports have pegged it at about 1 million), but the monthly active users metric is a step in that direction.

And co-CEO Greg Peters noted that more than a quarter of signups in countries where the ad plan is available choose it, with levels of engagement similar to those of its ad-free tiers.

“The signals are promising: engagement on our ads plan is similar to our comparable non-ads plans,” Peters said. “That’s critical because it all starts and ends with consumers.” 

Indeed, Netflix still dominates most streaming ratings charts, and the company says its users watch for longer than competitors as well.

“It’s why, despite all the competition out there, Netflix is the most popular streaming service today. To be the one to watch, you need everyone watching. And that’s what sets Netflix apart,” Peters said, in what sounded like a subtle dig at the upcoming Max service, which uses the tagline “The One to Watch.”

Peters cited the “Netflix Effect” in helping to push older songs to the top of the charts after they appear in Netflix shows, and in helping “niche sports become mainstream,” as footage from the Formula 1 docuseries Drive to Survive played.

And Netflix content chief Bela Bajaria said that the popularity of the service is because they are “super serving our audience – giving you something you will really love, that will really satisfy you.”

“To super-serve our members we have to focus on quality, with the understanding that quality, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder,” she added.

And a “Top 10” option will give advertisers guaranteed placement within the titles on Netflix’s top 10 lists, country by country.

Naylor also announced that beginning in Q4, clients would be able to use Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings to measure the reach of their campaigns. The company also announced a deal with the data firm EDO to measure engagement.

And executives promised further evolution on the ads front, with Gorman telling the audience that they plan on “innovating.”

“We treat our ads with the same care we treat our incredible content: serving them locally; seamlessly transitioning between shows and ads with no latency; and implementing industry-leading frequency caps with an ad load of four to five minutes per hour,” she said.

It was a comment echoed by co-CEO Ted Sarandos later on, noting that the company revolutionized streaming when it introduced House of Cards a decade ago, and that it was working on “similar breakthroughs in advertising” that “can be just as impactful.”

“You’ve heard a lot from us today, and I think it all boils down to one thing: Netflix is a little bit different,” Sarandos concluded with his comments. “In the past – when consumers had very little choice of where to watch – it didn’t matter so much which network a show or film landed on. They were all very similar. Today, we believe that having a title land on Netflix makes all the difference in the world.”

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Netflix promises top spots for advertisers at upfronts debut, claims 5 million ad tier members.

Dan Meier 18 May, 2023 

Netflix’s ad tier now has 5 million subscribers globally, the streaming company announced at its Upfront presentation, suggesting a substantial jump from reports of 1 million US subs in March.

The company’s Upfronts debut was scuppered by the writers’ strike (not the first interruption Netflix has experienced to live events ), and like the Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) presentation it was moved online – though the striking writers have focused much of their anger specifically on Netflix.

But the company was upbeat on advertising, highlighting the high levels of engagement on its AVOD tier. Netflix said around 25 percent of new signups are choosing the Basic with Ads tier, and 75 percent of ad-supported members are 18-49 years old. According to the company, Netflix ad tier subs have a median age of 34, and nearly 80 percent of viewing takes place on TV.

“The cultural zeitgeist”

Acknowledging that the ad business “remains in its infancy”, the streaming giant announced that advertisers will soon be able to sponsor popular Netflix series at launch, initially only in the US. They can also align campaigns with local holidays, for instance by running Valentine’s Day promotions on romance titles; and “key brand moments”, such as sustainability promos on nature documentaries.

The streaming service also touted its Top 10 offering, which guarantees ad placement on its daily Top 10 titles. “B rands can become part of the cultural zeitgeist by aligning themselves with Netflix’s biggest hits,” the company said.

Co-CEO Ted Sarandos additionally suggested “a 30-minute commercial” that would play out “over several days” across different shows being watched by the same user. “This isn’t going to happen overnight, and maybe not even next year,” he added.

“Driving engagement”

Netflix also promoted its measurement partnerships with Nielsen and EDO. The launch of Nielsen ONE will allow US advertisers to use Nielsen DAR (Digital Ad Ratings) for deduplicated audience measurement metrics on Netflix, starting in Q4. 

Meanwhile the EDO metrics show that “ Netflix outperforms the streaming and linear averages when it comes to driving engagement,” according to the streaming firm, with viewers four times more likely to engage with ads on Netflix than other streaming services – and  four and a half times more likely than linear TV.

Netflix ad chief Jeremi Gorman said the reach on Netflix compared with rival services is “the difference between foundational viewing and simply sampling.” She also noted the introduction of third-party verification through DoubleVerify and IAS, and said the company is building frequency caps to limit ad loads to 4-5 minutes per hour.

“The eye of the beholder”

The presentation saw Netflix state its ambition to revolutionise advertising the way it previously disrupted streaming. “Netflix shows and movies are generating global audiences that are many times bigger than our closest competitors,” said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.

Co-CEO Greg Peters reiterated the popularity of the streaming service over its rivals, including a dig at WBD’s “The one to watch” tagline for its upcoming SVOD service Max. “To be the one to watch, you need everyone watching,” said Peters.

But Netflix is not the streaming powerhouse it once was, and recently pushed back its password sharing crackdown in the US over fears of subscriber churn. The company is also reportedly reducing spending by $300 million this year, as demand for Netflix’s original content slides, according to Parrot Analytics data.

That said, Netflix is shifting its focus to maximising revenues from its subscriber base, and said on last month’s earnings call that ARPU was actually higher on the cheaper ad tier than its basic ad-free plan. And the company remains invested in quality content – though the commitment came with a caveat from content chief Bela Bajaria: “To super-serve our members we have to focus on quality, with the understanding that quality, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.”

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In Surprise Move, Netflix Upfront Goes From In-Person Presentation to Virtual Event

Netflix is making a major change to its inaugural advertising upfront, pivoting the event from an in-person presentation to a streaming-only affair.

Amid the ongoing writers strike, the megastreamer said that it is canceling the in-person presentation that has been slated to be held at New York’s Paris Theater on May 17. The presentation, which was scheduled for 5 p.m., was to be followed by a reception for guests.

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Instead, the Netflix upfront will be a virtual, streaming-only presentation.

A Netflix source said that the company plans to share an update on the progress of its advertising product, as well as its upcoming programming slate.

The company did not give an explanation for the late decision, though the Writers Guild of America has said that it will have picket lines at many, if not all, of next week’s upfront presentations in New York, including Netflix. Likewise, Netflix’s Los Angeles office has been a popular picketing location for striking writers.

Earlier on Wednesday Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos canceled an appearance at the planned May 18 PEN America Gala, saying in a statement that “given the threat to disrupt this wonderful evening, I thought it was best to pull out so as not to distract from the important work that PEN America does for writers and journalists, as well as the celebration of my friend and personal hero Lorne Michaels.”

It is not immediately clear if other planned upfronts will make similarly major moves. A high-level source at another entertainment company said that they still planned to hold their event, though likely without many scripted talent in attendance.

Netflix only introduced its ad-supported tier late last year. AdWeek first reported the move from in-person to virtual.

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PMG Digital Made for Humans

The Biggest Takeaways from the 2023 Upfronts

4 MINUTE READ | May 18, 2023

Abby is PMG’s senior managing editor, where she leads the company’s editorial program and manages the PMG Blog and Insights Hub. As a writer, editor, and marketing communications strategist with nearly a decade of experience, Abby's work in showcasing PMG’s unique expertise through POVs, research reports, and thought leadership regularly informs business strategy and media investments for some of the most iconic brands in the world. Named among the AAF Dallas 32 Under 32, her expertise in advertising, media strategy, and consumer trends has been featured in Ad Age , Business Insider , and Digiday .

This year’s upfronts presentations were unlike any other as the likes of NBCUniversal, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Netflix took to the stage against a backdrop of challenges—from the WGA writers’ strike to continued economic uncertainty and changing TV advertising and viewership trends.

Across media companies, upfronts presentations were fairly muted compared to years past, lacking the typical star power and headline news announcements advertisers have come to expect around this time of year. Instead, the majority of presentations centered around sizzle reels and slate updates to promote new content and returning shows. 

Disney’s upfronts presentation focused heavily on unscripted programming, including reality TV, live sports, and news. More than 45 minutes of the two-hour presentation focused on ESPN’s live sports offerings and featured stars like Damar Hamlin, Serena Williams, and Pat McAfee.

The biggest Disney-related announcement in recent days was not from the upfronts presentation but news that Disney will soon incorporate the Hulu content library into the Disney+ streaming platform to create a “one-app experience,” according to Disney CEO Bob Iger on the Disney earnings call in recent days. 

The new combined offering is expected to launch by the end of 2023 and will be available to customers who subscribe to both streaming services. The announcement is the latest signal that Disney intends to retain its ownership of Hulu as negotiations for Comcast’s 33 percent stake play out. “The consolidation of streaming TV platforms bodes well for advertisers, as fewer apps help provide brands with more advertising opportunities at scale across a larger library of premium content,” said Natalee Geldert, head of brand media at PMG.

At the YouTube Brandcast event on Wednesday, YouTube executives introduced several new ad types. YouTube will soon begin testing “Pause Experiences” for YouTube on TV screens, which will play an ad once the viewer pauses a video, similar to Hulu pause ads. YouTube will also introduce 30-second non-skippable ads across top-performing YouTube videos on TVs.

According to Variety , “YouTube remains the No. 1 most-watched service on TV screens in the U.S. (across both streaming platforms and traditional TV networks), and in April was one of the only streaming services to see month-to-month growth, per Nielsen.” 

New NFL content will also be coming to the platform. The Hollywood Reporter reported , “The new NFL shows include Game Day All Access , which will see players mic’d up on the sidelines during games, and a new YouTube Shorts program, NFL Creator of the Week , will debut after the season kicks off.” And while other media companies felt the impact of the WGA writers’ strike, YouTube’s Brandcast featured creators and talent front and center, with musical performances, a fashion show, and plenty of giveaways for those in attendance. 

Related: NBCUniversal kicks off Upfronts Week with 'Bravoholics,’ leaning into its slate of unscripted programming 

It’s been six months since Netflix launched its ad-supported plan, with the subscription tier now boasting nearly five million global monthly active users, according to Jeremi Gordan, president of worldwide advertising at Netflix, at this year’s Netflix upfronts presentation. On average, more than a quarter of new Netflix signups now choose the ads plan, with 70 percent of ad-supported users falling between the ages of 18 and 49.

To help brands connect and engage with these subscribers, new ad formats are coming soon. This includes Netflix Sponsorship, where brand partners can sponsor a popular Netflix series at launch or align with meaningful Netflix content collections with campaigns organized around local holidays (like Netflix on Valentine’s Day) or key brand storytelling moments (such as Netflix Sustainability Stories). 

It was also announced that beginning in Q4 of this year, brands in the U.S. will be able to use Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings (DAR), which offers deduplicated audience measurement metrics for brand campaigns running on the Netflix ad-supported subscription plan. As reported by Variety , “Netflix executives played up the phenomenon known as ‘The Netflix Effect’ time and again during the presentation, enticing marketers with the idea that Netflix has been instrumental in creating new moments and trends in popular culture—and could do the same for them.”

Alongside these product and technology announcements was a slate of new films and shows , including returning favorites like The Crown , Virgin River , and Love is Blind , new dramas including All the Light We Cannot See , and more. 

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"CTV ad opportunities and the various inroads into live sports and unscripted programming across streaming platforms were the dominant themes from this year's upfronts presentations,” said Geldert. “As media companies continue to invest in streaming and CTV while adjusting their content slates and advertising formats accordingly, advertisers stand to gain from the countless opportunities for engaging with audiences across platforms and where ample time is being spent.” 

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Netflix Schedules 2-Day Immersive Event For Upfront Week

• by Wayne Friedman , February 13, 2024

After canceling what would have been its first upfront presentation a year ago, Netflix is scheduling a special two-day event for the upfront ad market this year during the big upfront presentation week.

The first day, May 15, will be a medium-sized event where Netflix senior executives will present first-look content to media-buying executives.

Then the next day, Netflix will use Pier59 studios for a "Netflix Experience" all-day event where media-buying and ad executives will immerse themselves in different special rooms.

For its “Stranger Things” TV show, clients will find themselves "upside down" in a  “Squid Game” room where executives can perform some challenges that reflect what happens in the TV series. There will also be a Netflix Bites taste room.

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In November of 2022, Netflix launched its ad option for consumers of its streaming service.

Its planned first upfront presentation in mid-May 2023 was canceled at the Paris Theater in the wake of the writers' strike, when performers would not cross picket lines. 

In December 2023, Amy Reinhard was announced as Netflix's new president of ad sales. Earlier this year, she said Netflix has grown to 23 million global monthly active users (MAUs) for its advertising option.

Insider Intelligence estimates the Netflix advertising option will amass $1.03 billion in revenues for its full second year in operation.

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Netflix Closes First Upfront Talks With Advertisers, Total Commitments ‘In Line With Expectations’

The streamer’s ad-supported tier has grown to over 10 million monthly active users, doubling since its presentation to advertisers in May

Netflix has closed its first-ever upfront negotiations, with total commitments “in line with expectations,” a person familiar with the matter told TheWrap.

The company secured deals with all major advertising holding companies, as well as multiple independent agencies, at “top of market pricing” for the streaming industry.

Investment came from categories including auto, consumer packaged goods, retail and more, with Netflix taking share from traditional TV broadcasters as well as digital video platforms. Following Netflix’s announcement of new title and moment sponsorships, the company has filled nearly all inventory for 2023-2024. 

The conclusion of Netflix’s upfront comes as the company’s ad tier has grown to over 10 million monthly active users, doubling from the nearly 5 million MAUs disclosed at its presentation to advertisers in May. The company’s executives previously revealed during its first quarter earnings call that average revenue per paid membership for the ad tier in the U.S. was greater than its standard plan. 

Netflix is the latest studio to wrap up its upfront negotiations with advertisers.

NBCUniversal ended its negotiations with total cash commitments “roughly in line with last year.” In 2022, the company received $7 billion in commitments, according to AdWeek — the highest-grossing upfront in its history.

Sales for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games nearly doubled the pace at the one year out benchmark compared to Tokyo 2020, with NBCU anticipating sales to be ahead of all previous Olympic Games in total sales. The company has already sold out all of its new Olympic Prime Pod sponsorships.

It also received over 30 partnership requests across 13 product categories for Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary season, which it will confirm in the coming months.

Paramount Global ended their talks with commitments “up low to mid-single digits,” with the EyeQ, Vantage and Sports verticals seeing double-digit growth on a combined basis.

Meanwhile, Disney said its revenue and volume commitments “in line with the prior year.” Over 40% of total dollars committed were given to streaming and digital, led by Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu. The company also saw single-digit increases in sports volume and pricing.

Additionally, Fox is wrapping up its negotiations and recently touted price and volume growth at Fox News Media and Fox Sports. FOX Entertainment “increased Upfront sell-out over last year,” while Tubi saw volume growth for the fourth consecutive year.

Warner Bros. Discovery is also “making strong progress” on its upfront deals, chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels told analysts on the company’s second quarter earnings call. He noted that linear volume is expected to be up, with “pricing on balance pretty consistent with the prior year.” He added that DTC volume is “up more than 50% in the marketplace in which CPMs were positioned to drive scale, for us as much as for the broader market.”

The conclusion of Netflix’s upfront negotiations was first reported by AdWeek.

The Night Agent Season 2: Netflix Release Date Estimate, Cast, & Everything We Know

Production has wrapped on the new season and will return in 2024.

Picture: Netflix

The Night Agent will return for season 2 on Netflix in 2024. The renewal was no surprise in early 2023, with the show becoming one of Netflix’s biggest new series launches in history. Here’s everything we know about The Night Agent season 2 so far, including the latest on production, what to expect from the story, new cast members, and much more.

“Serving as an adaptation of Matthew Quirk’s novel ‘The Night Agent,’ with some expanded and original ideas, the show follows a young FBI agent who answers a call that plunges him into a deadly conspiracy involving a mole at the White House.

The show is produced for Netflix by Sony Pictures Television and showrunner Shawn Ryan, who is behind titles like The Shield and S.W.A.T. 

Has Netflix Renewed The Night Agent for Season 2?

Official Renewal Status: Renewed on March 29th, 2023

Netflix officially renewed The Night Agent for a second season and announced the second season would be debuting in 2024 (more on this soon) with ten new episodes.

Shawn Ryan, creator, showrunner, and executive producer of The Night Agent , said on the season 2 renewal:

“The last week has been a whirlwind as we’ve finally been able to share The Night Agent with the world. To see the tremendous reaction to the show has been a great joy and is a credit to our cast, our writers, our directors, our crew and our partners at Sony Pictures Television and Netflix. We couldn’t be any prouder or more excited to get cracking on Season 2 to share the further adventures of Night Action with our newfound fans.”

Shawn Ryan speaks at Netflix Tudum Theater – Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Netflix

Katherine Pope, President of Sony Pictures Television, said:

“We are thrilled to see The Night Agent become an instant global sensation and can’t wait to continue telling this story with our remarkable cast, creative leader, Shawn Ryan and our wonderful partners at Netflix.”

Jinny Howe, Vice President of Drama Series at Netflix, said on the renewal:

“We’re proud to see The Night Agent deliver a breakout performance and become instantly embraced around the world. Shawn Ryan has created a spy thriller sensation that viewers cannot get enough of, with a stellar cast featuring Gabriel Basso, Luciane Buchanan and Hong Chau, and we’re here to bring them more of the action and suspense they love.”

As we’ve covered previously, renewals all come down to the numbers. As we’ll cover below, The Night Agent pulled in some big numbers for Netflix, and that, combined with the fact the completion rate looks to be high and the show’s budget (which is reportedly between $2-$3M per episode – up to $30M total) made it a no brainer.

Shawn Ryan, ahead of the renewal, implied that there’s room for more story talking to Deadline, saying:

“I certainly have some ideas; I probably want to keep those to myself until the time comes. What I will tell you is that the initial pitch for this show that we sold to Netflix was that each season would tell its own, mostly self-enclosed, a beginning, middle and end story, and any future seasons would include a few but not most of the characters that we saw in the previous season.”

How well did The Night Agent perform on Netflix?

The Night Agent has quickly become one of Netflix’s top performers, with multiple stats backing this up.

Every Tuesday, Netflix releases 40 hourly statistics for their biggest shows and movies, and their data shows that The Night Agent had a huge debut on Netflix.

Per Netflix’s press release for week 1, “the action-thriller ranks #3 for premiere week of viewing across all Season 1 TV and appeared in the Top 10 in 93 countries.”

The show ultimately featured in the Netflix global top 10s for ten weeks, with 776.62 million hours watched.

Those numbers place the show in the list of most watched shows and movies on Netflix of all time, but given the recent changes in Netflix methodology, it either ranks fifth or sixth depending on the metric you use:

• Based on the first 28 days metric, it is the fifth most-watched show of all time with 626.99M hours
• Based on the first 91 days, it’s the sixth most-watched show of all time, with 803.70M hours watched (98.20M CVE viewers)

According to the Netflix Engagement Reports covering all viewing in 2023, The Night Agent was the most-watched TV show of the year. It picked up just shy of a billion hours watched globally (967,600,000 hours), which equates to 118,200,000 views.

If we break down the hour data into CVE (Complete Viewing Equivalent – taking the length of the show and dividing by the hours), we can see it outperformed Keep Breathing and 1899 but was shy of The Watcher .

In our top 10 report for the first week , What’s on Netflix contributor Frederic said the show had the “second-best launch for any series released on a Thursday, just behind  The Watcher, which ended up being renewed (a feat for a limited series at the time).”

Using CVE, we can see that after 14 days, the show was one of the top-performing debut English language series, only behind The Watcher and Wednesday.

Renewed Netflix Shows vs Canceled Netflix Shows in CVEs (First 14 days performance)

Nielsen numbers also showed the series performed well (their data covers viewing on connected TV devices in the US), with the show featuring in the top 10s for seven weeks, clocking up 173.50 million hours.

How about critical acclaim? Audience scores have been outpacing critics’ scores thus far, but it’s mostly positive all around. On RottenTomatoes , as of March 29th, the show holds an 82% score from audiences and 69% from critics. The series holds a 7.7/10 based on over 12,000 reviews on IMDb, and on Metacritic, it holds a 68 rating.

Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2023

What to expect from Season 2 of The Night Agent

While The Night Agent season 1 certainly answers the most prominent questions by the end of episode 10, there’s still a lot to be learned.

By the time the credits of the final episode roll, we’ve learned that Diane Farr, the president’s own chief of staff, is the mole and worked with Vice President Redfield and Gordon Wick to plan the metro bombing. As a result, The Night Agent wraps up relatively nicely, but there’s still plenty to be explored potentially. After all, Peter ends the season by jetting off for his first mission.

As Ryan mentioned in the aforementioned Deadline interview, he suggested that if they’re “successful enough that Netflix wants more seasons, I think there’d be a whole new world in which you would see a limited number of characters from this current season going into that. ”

Ryan also covered some of the biggest questions Season 2 would have to seek to answer, including:

• What does it mean that Peter would be a night agent?
• Where is Peter going next?
• With Rose heading back to California, where does that leave Peter and Rose?

Additional snippets of information came from Ryan in a ComicBook.com interview where he revealed season 2 would not be taking place in Washington DC, saying :

“We’ll be in a different part of the world exploring different characters than we had in Season One. And we’re determining who from Season One might appear in Season Two. But essentially we’re going to be telling a whole brand-new story, which is exciting and scary.”

Where is The Night Agent Season 2 in production?

No filming has yet to take place, and production on the second season has been severely impacted due to the Hollywood strikes that saw writers put their pencils down in May 2023 and the actors following suit from July 2023.

Work did begin on the scripts for season 2, but all of the writers on the show have been striking since May 1st, 2023.

Shawn Ryan notably posted on X on May 5:

“I’d rather be writing Season 2 of #TheNightAgent for Netflix rather than picketing them, but all writers need a fair deal before we can resume our work. We create the TV shows and movies that drive billions in profits. Writers deserve their fair share.”

The Night Agent writers, support staff, first AD Marijke, Peter Sutherland stunt double Matt and Erik Monks are on strike.

The writer’s strike notably ended in late September 2023, and showrunner Shawn Ryan spoke to Variety about the show’s current status on October 12th. The interview states that writing on season 2 was “more than halfway done” before the strikes began in May.

Ryan also confirms that the writing staff has been working on the show since October 2nd but states some production preparation has occurred over the summer.

Netflix first confirmed the series was filming on February 5th, 2024, with a slew of social media posts . The filming for some of the shows will take place in Thailand before they return to New York.

The budget for the new season is reportedly between $2 and $3M an episode, and numerous filming codenames for the series include TNAS2, OSPREY, and OSPREY 212.

In late March 2024 , the team behind the show celebrated the first season’s first anniversary with a slew of new photos from the set of season 2.

Filming on season 2 of The Night Agent wrapped on June 7th, 2024 (although Netflix socials didn’t confirm the wrap until June 17th ), with Matthew Quirk visiting the offices for a sneak peak in late June .

Episode Titles, Writers, and Directors for The Night Agent Season 2

Through multiple sources, including looking diligently through Instagram and various profiles, we’ve compiled the current list of writers, directors, and any episode titles we’ve found for the show.

Directing on this new season are:

• Guy Ferland
• Ana Lily Amirpour
• Nina Lopez Corrado
• Seth Gordon

Episode Titles and Writers

These will be updated as and when we learn about more!

• Written by: Shawn Ryan
• Written by: Tiffany Shaw Ho & Corey Deshon
• Written by: Imogen Browder
• Written by: Anayat Fakhraie
• Written by: Munis Rashid
• Written by: Lukas Johnson
• Written by: Tiffany Shaw Ho
• Written by: Corey Deshon
• Written by: Anayat Fakhraie & Imogen Browder
• Teleplay by: Munis Rashid
• Story by: Munis Rashid & Michael Oates Palmer

The remaining episode titles are as follows (in alphabetical order until we get the final order):

• A Family Matter
• A Good Agent
• Buyer’s Remorse
• Call Tracking
• Cultural Exchange
• Desperate Measures
• Disconnected

The Night Agent Season 2 – New And Returning Cast Members

Gabriel Basso and Luciane Buchanan are the two most prominent returning cast members confirmed for the second season.

Through several waves of announcements, we’ve got a big new cast coming up in season 2 of The Night Agent .

In December 2023, Amanda Warren ( The Burial ) was the first to be announced to join the cast as the series’ regular role-playing Catherine Weaver. She’s a seasoned case officer and veteran FBI agent with a sharp mind and a critical eye who doesn’t suffer fools. Handles herself well in the halls of power in DC and in the field.

Then, in January 2024, the next wave of series regulars and recurring roles were announced . The new series regulars were:

• Berto Colon  ( Power Book II: Ghost , Orange Is The New Black ) – Solomon Robinson – former Marine turned right-hand man fixer for powerful businessmen.
• Louis Herthum ( Westworld ) – Jacob Monroe – International businessman with powerful connections
• Arienne Mandi ( Tatami ) – Noor Kabiri – Low-level aide in the Iranian mission to the UN in New York.

The two recurring roles were:

• Brittany Snow ( X , The Good Half ) – Alice Leeds – Peter’s partner and mentor as he joins Night Action.
• Teddy Sears ( Raising the Bar , Masters of Sex ) – Warren Stocker – High-level intelligence officer and the subject of a Night Action investigation.

Then, in March 2024, Deadline revealed three guest roles for season 2:

• Marwan Kenzari ( Black Adam ) – Reza – Decorated soldier court marshaled.
• Elise Kibler ( The Sunlit Night ) – Sloan – Glamorous British socialite.
• Dikran Tulaine ( The Blacklist ) – Viktor – Former leader of a country but since convicted of war crimes.

Further casting for season 2 includes:

• Michael Malarkey ( The Vampire Diaries ) as Markus, a military chief and loyal nephew to a dictator newly convicted of war crimes by the Hague.
• Navid Negahban ( Alladin ) as Abbas the U.N. ambassador for Iran.
• Keon Alexander (The Expanse ) as Javad – “oversees security for the Iranian Mission to the United Nations and monitors the loyalty of its employees.”
• Rob Heaps ( Station 11 ) as Tomas, the elitist son of the deposed dictator, who is keen on restoring his family to power.
• Francesca Root-Dodson ( Free Spirit , Gotham ) as Amélie.
• Kylo Freeman had joined the cast during The Night Agent’s birthday celebrations.
• David Chen as Jeff
• Michael Bonini as Tyler
• Anousha as Haleh
• Siya Rostami as Daryoosh
• Matt Dellapina as  Frank
• Mershad Torabi as Bijan
• Miriam Silverman as Gretchen
• Kiarash Amani as Farhad
• Graham Harvey as Ethan

Pictures via agencies / IMDb

When will Season 2 of The Night Agent be released on Netflix?

Despite our original prediction that a 2024 release date may be hard to achieve because of the strikes, Netflix is still very optimistic.

We say that because The Night Agent 2 was part of the 90+ roster of shows, it confirmed at the Next on Netflix event that it would be returning in 2024.

Given that the production wrap is scheduled for early June, we’d guess a November-December 2024 launch is most likely, but don’t be surprised if it gets knocked into 2025, either.

While waiting for The Night Agent season 2, Matthew Quirk has plenty of other novels to read. Other Quirk novels like Hour of the Assassin , The Directive , Cold Barrel Zero , Dead Man Switch , or Red Warning

All these books are also ripe for adaptations and not necessarily as part of The Night Agent because, as the author explains on Twitter , “they’re mostly standalones.”

Matthew Quirk’s most recent book, Inside Threat , was released on June 13, 2023.

Are you looking forward to watching The Night Agent season 2 on Netflix in 2024? Let us know in the comments below.

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2023 Upfronts: Calendar of Events

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Ad Tech Industry News

Netflix is lowering ad prices to below $30, the streaming platform initially came to the market with $65 cpms in 2022.

Join the experts at Mediaweek , October 29-30 in New York City. Stay ahead of the shifts impacting the media landscape and gain fresh strategies to drive platform growth. Save 20% on passes .

Netflix is further lowering the prices of its ads, according to three ad buyers who talked to the streamer in July.

Netflix will charge advertisers CPMs (cost per thousand viewers) between $20 and $30 for some of its ad inventory, the buyers said. Netflix will charge $20 for a 15-second ad slot and $25 for a 30-second ad slot, one buyer said, while another buyer said Netflix was charging in the high-$20 range.

Rates for Netflix inventory have been precipitously dropping in the almost two years since the streaming powerhouse said it would start selling advertising time. The Wall Street Journal reported in June that Netflix was talking with buyers about charging $29 to $35 CPMs for ads, a drop from a reported $39 to $45 in 2023. Netflix initially came to the market with an eye-popping $65 CPM in 2022.

Netflix’s new talks with buyers coincide with the streamer’s push into programmatic . Ad buyers pay different rates depending on the types of ads they buy (such as variations in length, targeting criteria and method of transaction) and the existing relationships they have with Netflix. The buyers’ conversations with Netflix on ad pricing were not necessarily about ads sold programmatically.

This summer, the streamer is beginning its partnership with adtech firms The Trade Desk, Google’s Display & Video 360 and Magnite and testing its ad server, which the company said in May it would build itself.

The Trade Desk is offering one-to-one private marketplace (PMP) deals on Netflix inventory this month, followed by programmatic guaranteed inventory in November, the first buyer said, after speaking to The Trade Desk in addition to Netflix about the timeline of the ads.

While Netflix’s conversations with buyers about pricing in July were not inherently tied to its programmatic offering, The Trade Desk is also selling Netflix inventory at lower than precedented rates.

The standard rate for a 30-second ad slot in a Netflix PMP sold via The Trade Desk would be $25, the first source said. The source spoke to Netflix and The Trade Desk separately, noting that Netflix is also charging $25 for a 30-second ad slot (the same as The Trade Desk when it sells this Netflix inventory).

A Netflix spokesperson said that programmatic inventory—which can be sold by Netflix directly or by third parties—will be priced lower than inventory purchased via direct insertion order, a manual way of buying ads. Programmatic pricing starts at a minimum price, or a floor, and what advertisers ultimately pay is usually higher via the auction process and once targeting criteria are layered on.

For the Netflix PMP offered this month via The Trade Desk, a 10-second ad’s floor is $15, a 15-second ad’s floor is $20, a 45-second ad has a floor of $37.50 and a 60-second ad has a $50 floor, the first source said. There are also additional charges for targeting by age, gender or genre, or to reach the top 10 most popular programs on Netflix—attributes Trade Desk buyers can use this month, the first source said.

Netflix declined to comment on the record but did not dispute or confirm the accuracy of the pricing changes. The Trade Desk declined to comment.

Making Netflix more competitive

Netflix has long charged among the highest prices of its rivals, but buyers told ADWEEK that the new lower prices make Netflix more competitive.

Amazon’s Prime Video shook up the streaming market when it launched its ad tier earlier this year, with initial CPMs for some inventory of $26 .

Prime Video also automatically opted in viewers to advertising and offered an option for them to pay more to turn off ads. Netflix’s ad tier is opt-in. As a result, Amazon boasted an average monthly ad-supported reach of 200 million customers globally during its May upfront presentation. Meanwhile, after two years, Netflix’s global monthly active user total for its ad tier was 40 million.

One buyer said the streamer attributed lower prices to having more viewers in its ad tier. In its second-quarter earnings call last month, the company said it had sequentially grown its ads member base by 34%.

Netflix only makes up about 2.7% of U.S. connected TV ad spending, according to eMarketer, well behind Hulu, YouTube and Amazon. Despite this, Netflix still has the largest streaming audience in the U.S. behind YouTube, according to eMarketer, with 179.4 million viewers (many of them pay to watch Netflix without ads).

This article has been updated to clarify that Netflix did not dispute or confirm the pricing changes .

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Catherine perloff.

• @catherineperlo1
• [email protected]

Catherine is an Adweek staff reporter covering ad tech and platforms.

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News details, cisco reports fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 earnings.

SAN JOSE, Calif. , Aug. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --

News Summary :

• Product order growth of 14% year over year; up 6% excluding Splunk
• Revenue of $13.6 billion in Q4 FY 2024, above the high end of our guidance range
• Q4 FY 2024 GAAP gross margin of 64.4% and Non-GAAP gross margin of 67.9%
• FY 2024 GAAP gross margin of 64.7% and Non-GAAP gross margin of 67.5%, the highest in 20 years
• Total subscription revenue of $27.4 billion including Splunk, representing 51% of total revenue
• Total annualized recurring revenue (ARR) at $29.6 billion, including $4.3 billion from Splunk, up 22% year over year
• Total software revenue at $18.4 billion, up 9% year over year, with software subscription revenue of $16.4 billion, up 15% year over year, making up 89% of total software revenue
• Decrease of 10% year over year
• GAAP EPS decreased 44% year over year
• Non-GAAP EPS decreased 24% year over year
• Decrease of 6% year over year
• GAAP EPS decreased 17% year over year
• Non-GAAP EPS decreased 4% year over year
• Revenue: $13.65 billion to $13.85 billion
• Earnings per Share:  GAAP: $0.35 to $0.42; Non-GAAP: $0.86 to $0.88
• Revenue: $55.0 billion to $56.2 billion
• Earnings per Share: GAAP: $1.93 to $2.05; Non-GAAP: $3.52 to $3.58

Cisco today reported fourth quarter and fiscal year results for the period ended July 27, 2024. Cisco reported fourth quarter revenue of $13.6 billion, net income on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis of $2.2 billion or $0.54 per share, and non-GAAP net income of $3.5 billion or $0.87 per share.

"We delivered a strong close to fiscal 2024," said Chuck Robbins, chair and CEO of Cisco. "In our fourth quarter, we saw steady customer demand with order growth across the business as customers rely on Cisco to connect and protect all aspects of their organizations in the era of AI."

"Revenue, gross margin and EPS in Q4 were at the high end or above our guidance range, demonstrating our operating discipline," said Scott Herren, CFO of Cisco. "As we look to build on our performance, we remain laser focused on growth and consistent execution as we invest to win in AI, cloud and cybersecurity, while maintaining capital returns."

The acquisition of Splunk, including financing costs, had a negative impact of $0.16 to GAAP EPS, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.

The acquisition of Splunk, including financing costs, had a negative impact of $0.04 to Non-GAAP EPS, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.

The acquisition of Splunk, including financing costs, had a negative impact of $0.25 to GAAP EPS, for fiscal 2024.

The acquisition of Splunk, including financing costs, had a negative impact of $0.04 to Non-GAAP EPS, for fiscal 2024.

Reconciliations between net income, EPS, and other measures on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis are provided in the tables located in the section entitled "Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP Measures."

C isco Declares Quarterly Dividend

Cisco has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per common share to be paid on October 23, 2024, to all stockholders of record as of the close of business on October 2, 2024. Future dividends will be subject to Board approval.

Financial Summary

All comparative percentages are on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise noted.

Q4 FY 2024 Highlights  

Revenue -- Total revenue was $13.6 billion, down 10%, with product revenue down 15% and services revenue up 6%. Splunk contributed approximately $960 million of total revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.

Revenue by geographic segment was: Americas down 11%, EMEA down 11%, and APJC down 6%. Product revenue performance reflected growth in Security up 81% and Observability up 41%. Networking was down 28%. Product revenue in Collaboration was flat. Security and Observability, excluding Splunk, grew 6% and 12%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.

Gross Margin --  On a GAAP basis, total gross margin, product gross margin, and services gross margin were 64.4%, 63.0%, and 67.8%, respectively, as compared with 64.1%, 63.6%, and 65.7%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.

On a non-GAAP basis, total gross margin, product gross margin, and services gross margin were 67.9%, 67.0%, and 70.3%, respectively, as compared with 65.9%, 65.5%, and 67.5%, respectively, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.

Total gross margins by geographic segment were: 67.7% for the Americas, 69.2% for EMEA and 66.4% for APJC.

Operating Expenses --  On a GAAP basis, operating expenses were $6.2 billion, up 12%, and were 45.2% of revenue. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $4.8 billion, up 4%, and were 35.4% of revenue.

Operating Income -- GAAP operating income was $2.6 billion, down 38%, with GAAP operating margin of 19.2%. Non-GAAP operating income was $4.4 billion, down 17%, with non-GAAP operating margin at 32.5%.

Provision for Income Taxes -- The GAAP tax provision rate was 9.8%. The non-GAAP tax provision rate was 16.6%.

Net Income and EPS -- On a GAAP basis, net income was $2.2 billion, a decrease of 45%, and EPS was $0.54, a decrease of 44%. On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $3.5 billion, a decrease of 25%, and EPS was $0.87, a decrease of 24%. 

Cash Flow from Operating Activities -- $3.7 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, a decrease of 37% compared with $6.0 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.

FY 2024 Highlights

Revenue -- Total revenue was $53.8 billion, a decrease of 6%. Splunk contributed approximately $1.4 billion of total revenue for fiscal 2024.

Net Income and EPS -- On a GAAP basis, net income was $10.3 billion, a decrease of 18%, and EPS was $2.54, a decrease of 17%. On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $15.2 billion, a decrease of 5% compared to fiscal 2023, and EPS was $3.73, a decrease of 4%.

Cash Flow from Operating Activities -- $10.9 billion for fiscal 2024, a decrease of 45% compared with $19.9 billion for fiscal 2023.

Balance Sheet and Other Financial Highlights

Cash and Cash Equivalents and Investments -- $17.9 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, compared with $18.8 billion at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2024, and compared with $26.1 billion at the end of fiscal 2023.

Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO) -- $41.0 billion, up 18% in total, with 51% of this amount to be recognized as revenue over the next 12 months. Product RPO were up 27% and services RPO were up 10%.

Deferred Revenue -- $28.5 billion, up 11% in total, with deferred product revenue up 15%. Deferred service revenue was up 9%. 

Capital Allocation -- In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, we returned $3.6 billion to stockholders through share buybacks and dividends. We declared and paid a cash dividend of $0.40 per common share, or $1.6 billion, and repurchased approximately 43 million shares of common stock under our stock repurchase program at an average price of $46.80 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $2.0 billion. The remaining authorized amount for stock repurchases under the program is $5.2 billion with no termination date.

Cisco estimates the following results for the first quarter of fiscal 2025:

Cisco estimates that GAAP EPS will be $0.35 to $0.42 for the first quarter of fiscal 2025.

Cisco estimates the following results for fiscal 2025:

Cisco estimates that GAAP EPS will be $1.93 to $2.05 for fiscal 2025.

Our Q1 FY 2025 and FY 2025 guidance assumes an effective tax provision rate of approximately 17% for GAAP and approximately 19% for non-GAAP results.

A reconciliation between the guidance on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis is provided in the tables entitled "GAAP to non-GAAP Guidance" located in the section entitled "Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP Measures."

Editor's Notes:

• Q4 fiscal year 2024 conference call to discuss Cisco's results along with its guidance will be held on Wednesday, August 14, 2024 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Conference call number is 1-888-848-6507 (United States) or 1-212-519-0847 (international).   
• Conference call replay will be available from 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time, August 14, 2024 to 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time, August 20, 2024 at 1-866-510-4837 (United States) or 1-203-369-1943 (international). The replay will also be available via webcast on the Cisco Investor Relations website at https://investor.cisco.com .   
• Additional information regarding Cisco's financials, as well as a webcast of the conference call with visuals designed to guide participants through the call, will be available at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time, August 14, 2024. Text of the conference call's prepared remarks will be available within 24 hours of completion of the call. The webcast will include both the prepared remarks and the question-and-answer session. This information, along with the GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation information, will be available on the Cisco Investor Relations website at https://investor.cisco.com .