Netflix appoints Ampersand alum Nicolle Pangis to lead North American ad business

Netflix has appointed veteran executive Nicolle Pangis as VP of advertising for North America as it looks to gain momentum with the foray into ad-supported streaming it began two years ago.

Nicolle Pangis

Pangis, who was most recently CEO of New York-based advertising services company Ampersand, will have oversight of the US and Canada and report to Netflix’s president of advertising, Amy Reinhard.

The appointment comes as the streaming giant gears up to launch its proprietary ad tech platform in Canada, ahead of a wider launch in 2025.

Building a robust advertising model is among Netflix’s key priorities in the years ahead. However, it has not been without its challenges. Former VP of ads Peter Naylor exited the streamer in July after two years in the role, while president of worldwide advertising Jeremi Gorman departed last October.

Netflix has acknowledged that it is still “very early” in its venture into ad-supported streaming, but the company said earlier this month that it will reach “critical ad subscriber scale for advertisers in all of our ads countries in 2025.”

The streamer currently offers the ad tier in 12 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, France and South Korea, though it does not disclose how many members are signed up. Overall, it has around 282.7 million subs worldwide.

In the most recent quarter, Netflix disclosed that the ad tier accounted for more than 50% of new sign-ups in its ad countries. In addition, it said the size of its ad tier subscription pool grew 35% between the second and third quarters.

Reinhard said: “[Pangis] has a great reputation within our industry, both for the depth of her relationships with clients and partners, and her data-driven approach to streaming advertising.

“Together, we’ll continue to build and scale a great ads business for our clients and Netflix.”