From ADOTATRumors Are Nicolle Pangis Is Leaving Netflix. The Trade Desk Is Trying to Recruit Her.
Netflix Promised "Formidable" Ads. Its Sales Chief Is Expected Out.Pick
By Pesach Lattin,
At the 2026 upfront, Netflix ad president Amy Reinhard said the company was done proving it was durable and was becoming "a formidable one." The person who carried that promise into U.S. and Canadian agencies was Nicolle Pangis, Netflix's VP of advertising. ADOTAT now reports, citing multiple people familiar with the matter, that Pangis is expected to leave. One person adds that The Trade Desk is trying to recruit her to run its CTV sales. Neither company answered by publication.
The receipts since "formidable" are not kind. Netflix cut its 2026 ad revenue target from $3 billion to about $2.7 billion in October, and blamed delays in product rollouts and partner integrations. CPMs that launched at $65 in 2022 sat in the low $20s this spring, by trade reports. Roughly half of non-live ad revenue now runs through other companies' DSPs, Amazon's included. Jack Myers put the whole thing in one line in The Myers Report: Netflix sits in "the most expensive position in the CTV market: the middle."
ADOTAT's argument is that this is not about a bad executive. A longtime ad tech executive called Pangis "a calming influence who helped steady the team," and Myers called her "competent and skilled." The problem is the wiring. Netflix's ad product group does not report to sales, and sales does not report to product. Product owns the timeline. Sales owns the number. When the timeline slips, the number misses and the seller answers for it. On Nov. 2 Netflix hired Darshan Kantak from Google to run its ads platform, reporting to Reinhard alongside Pangis, not to her. Same split, new name in the box.
Now the part that should worry buyers. The source says The Trade Desk wants to use Pangis to push Netflix to make it exclusive, which would undo the open, every-DSP strategy she was hired to run. ADOTAT is clear that this rests on one person's account. Count the chairs anyway: Jeremi Gorman, Peter Naylor, Julie DeTraglia, Jon Whitticom, and now, by multiple accounts, Pangis. Five senior ad leaders in four years. If you hold a Netflix deal, get your rates, makegoods and measurement terms confirmed in writing now, while the people who negotiated them are still in the room. "Formidable" was the promise. The org chart is the bill.
Expanded from ADOTAT's Nov. 10 report, which draws on interviews with industry executives and people familiar with the matter, some on background; Jack Myers's analysis in The Myers Report, quoted with his permission; Netflix earnings disclosures and upfront statements; trade and financial reporting on Netflix pricing, DSP deals, forecasts, executive changes and layoffs; and ADOTAT's February 2026 Netflix series. ADOTAT has not confirmed where Pangis is going or when. The Trade Desk recruiting account and the exclusivity pitch rest on one person and have not been confirmed; ADOTAT has not confirmed any talks or title. CPM figures from trade reports are estimates that vary by deal. Netflix and The Trade Desk were asked on Nov. 10 and had not answered by publication. ADOTAT discloses that Jack Myers gave it complimentary access to The Myers Report and it offered him ADOTAT+ in return, and that it has no financial relationship with Netflix, The Trade Desk or LUMA Partners. ADOTAT is reader-supported, with no paid placement in editorial.