Netflix Ad Exec Peter Naylor To Exit

deadline.com:

Peter Naylor, the former head of advertising at Hulu, is leaving Netflix after less than two years in a senior executive role.

The move was confirmed to Deadline by a person familiar with the company’s ad exec roster. It followed a strong quarterly earnings report, which included extensive commentary about the progress of the company’s nascent ad effort.

While it does not break out subscribers according to plan, the company said its ad-supported tier grew 34% over its level in the first quarter and now accounts for 45% of all subscriptions in the countries where it is available. “We believe that we’re on track to achieve critical ad subscriber scale for advertisers in our ad countries in 2025, creating a strong base from which we can further increase our ad membership in 2026 and beyond,” the company wrote in its quarterly letter to shareholders. “Our ad revenue is growing nicely and is becoming a more meaningful contributor to our business.” Naylor’s “enthusiasm, industry knowledge and relationships have been invaluable in getting our advertising business off the ground,” said Amy Reinhard, Netflix President of Advertising in a statement provided to Deadline. “I want to thank him for all he has done to build our team, grow the business and position Netflix for success.” Naylor and Jermi Gorman, two seasoned ad execs who joined the company as it made a startling pivot toward ads after insisting for more than a decade that it would always shun them, have now left.

Reinhard was promoted to the top ad role from within the company upon Gorman’s departure last fall. In addition to his lengthy run at Hulu, where he was one of the principal architects of the one of the industry’s original streaming ad businesses, Naylor also