Amazon on Thursday shared new numbers for Prime Video, with President and CEO Andy Jassy disclosing the streaming service has 200 million monthly viewers.
Amazon doesn’t typically share metrics for how many users there are on Prime Video, which comes bundled as part of Amazon Prime membership that also includes perks like free two-day shipping from the e-commerce giant.
Jassy revealed the metric in an annual letter to shareholders, which stated:
“Recently, we’ve expanded our streaming TV advertising by introducing ads into Prime Video shows and movies, where brands can reach over 200 million monthly viewers in our most popular entertainment offerings, across hit movies and shows, award-winning Amazon MGM Originals, and live sports like Thursday Night Football.”
While Prime Video clearly has scale, it’s worth noting “monthly viewers” doesn’t necessarily equate to the number of paid subscribers. Streaming giant Netflix, as of the end of 2023, counted over 260 million global subscribers.
Prime Video in late January made the move to introduce ads on its video platform, automatically making it the default option for all users of the service where subscribers need to proactively sign-up for and pay an additional $3 per month to get an ad-free experience. That’s in contrast to the approach of other major streamers, such as Disney+ and Netflix, which introduced plans with ads in addition to their existing, pricier ad-free streaming tiers and have been working to build up ad-supported subscriber bases. Since launching in 2022, Netflix as of January had amassed around 23 million global monthly active users on its SVOD plan with ads.
In terms of traction for streaming TV ads on Prime Video, in the letter to shareholders, Jassy said “Streaming TV advertising is growing quickly and off to a strong start.”
Previous modeling by analysts at MoffettNathanson estimated that Amazon could net over $2 billion in incremental video ad dollars in 2025 from the introduction of ads on Prime Video. The firm also expects the combination of Amazon’s video inventory, viewing and retail data to make a significant impact on the CTV ad market.
The letter noted Amazon’s overall advertising business last year grew 24% year over year to $47 billion, primarily driven by sponsored ads. Amazon added “Sponsored TV” to its offering, which is a self-service capability for brands to develop campaigns that can run on up to 30 or more streaming TV services, including Amazon’s Freevee FAST, as well as Twitch.
As for Prime Video, Jassy cited “increasing conviction that Prime Video can be a large and profitable business on its own.”
Bolstering that confidence, the chief executive pointed to continued development of exclusive content, including Prime Video’s coverage of the NFL’s Thursday Night Football and series such as “Lord of the Rings,” “Reacher,” and “The Boys,” among others. “Prime Video customers’ engagement with this content, growth in our marketplace programs (through our third-party Channels program, as well as the broad selection of shows and movies customers rent or buy), and the addition of advertising in Prime Video,” is also helping drive Amazon’s belief in Prime Video’s prospects.
The commentary from Jassy about Prime Video’s broad offering aligns with what Prime Video VP Andrew Bennett previously shared in an interview with StreamTV Insider. Earlier this year, Bennett told STV that Prime Video aims to be a one-stop video entertainment hub, citing the comprehensive nature as a differentiator compared to other streaming services – and one that would be a focus of Prime Video messaging going forward.