Amazon says 130 million U.S. customers are watching Prime Video with ads
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Amazon on Monday said its Prime Video streaming service with ads reaches more than 130 million U.S. customers monthly on average, an increase of 15 million people from 2024.
Prime Video began offering an ad-supported version of its streaming service last year. It gave Prime subscribers the option to pay an additional $2.99 a month if they wanted to continue to see movies and shows on its streaming service without commercials.
Amazon will make a presentation later on Monday in New York as part of the “upfronts,” the TV industry’s annual advertiser schmooze fest. The company said it believes it is “uniquely positioned to connect content to customers,” adding that an average of 88% of Prime Video viewers in the U.S. shop on Amazon.
In a week that was once all about ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, Amazon and Netflix make their presence felt as they seek a piece of the $27-billion upfront ad market.
Prime Video has shows including coming-of-age series “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” fantasy series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” comic book series “The Boys” and the popular “Reacher.” Prime Video also has shows like fashion reality show “Making the Cut,” where customers can buy clothing seen on the show on Amazon. On Monday Prime Video said it will continue to stream the Academy of Country Music Awards for the next three years.
Amazon said some of its new ad formats include artificial intelligence-generated ad messaging, where AI is used to analyze what a customer is viewing and surfaces relevant ads when they pause a program.
“Our ad formats are proven to drive measurable action on and off Amazon,” said Alan Moss, vice president of global ads sales for Amazon Ads, in a statement.
Amazon’s entertainment operations recently underwent a major shakeup, with Amazon MGM Studios head Jen Salke exiting with a producing deal. She is not being replaced.
Amazon is launching its first global series that combines unscripted programming with its retail store.
In recent years, many streamers who used to offer programming ad-free started to sell cheaper subscription plans with commercials in order to generate more revenue.
In 2022, Netflix introduced an ad-supported subscription plan. Investors have put more pressure on streamers to increase their profits, causing them to look for other ways to make money, including cracking down on password sharing.
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