Amazon is shaking up the connected TV (CTV) advertising landscape by defaulting its nearly 160 million Prime Video viewers into an ad-supported tier as of January 29, 2024. Fully 80% of those viewers will stay there rather than pay extra for ad-free video, according to our inaugural forecast of ad-supported Amazon Prime Video viewers. The company plans to continue spending heavily on content and ad tech innovations for its flagship streaming platform—part of a major shift to becoming a full-funnel advertising powerhouse. These five charts shed light on what the introduction of ads to Prime Video means for Amazon and its competitors.
Amazon’s Prime Video ad tier will more than double the company’s CTV ad revenues this year
The ecommerce giant’s launch of ads on Prime Video will be an important driver of growth for US CTV ad spending in the years ahead. In 2024, Amazon’s CTV ad revenues will spike by 125.0%, more than five times the rate of the overall US CTV ad market (22.4%), and Amazon will account for nearly a third of the net increase in US CTV ad spend. This will substantially increase Amazon’s share of the US CTV advertising pie, from 5.6% in 2023 to 10.4% this year.