Amazon Prime Video is more than a side benefit of a prime membership – Amazon is building a streaming service to stand on its own.
Jeff Bezos saw Prime Video as “an opportunity to build a media company,” not just a subsidiary of Prime, Prime Video chief Mike Hopkins told Reuters on Wednesday.
Amazon has been working on that idea for four years. Prime Video became the largest ad-supported streaming service in the US in January after it began automatically offering ad-supported movies and shows to its 115 million American subscribers. Prime Video comes with Amazon’s $14.99 per month prime membership; starting in January, opting out of ads costs an additional $2.99 per month.
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Most subscribers chose not to pay extra per month for ad-free viewing — only 15% chose to pay extra. The switch to ads has had no impact on Amazon’s overall subscriber count, according to Hub research, and could bring in $1.3 billion in ad revenue this year and $2.3 billion next year, according to Wall Street research firm MoffettNathanson.
“Almost overnight, Amazon Prime Video dramatically changed the video advertising ecosystem,” said Mark Loughney, senior advisor to the Hub. Jeff Bezos. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
Amazon plans to switch to ads as a way to save money on Prime Video. Amazon MGM Studios had its biggest year in 2023 with 68 Emmy nominations for original content such as “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
Nielsen’s June TV and Broadcasting Report found that while Prime Video wasn’t as popular as Netflix and YouTube, it came out ahead of Hulu, Disney+, and Peacock. Original series for Prime Video Boys drew 4 billion minutes of viewing in June.
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