Amazon wants to sell OTT ads on Apple TV, Android platforms – report

Amazon reportedly wants to begin selling streaming video advertising outside of its Fire TV ecosystem on other manufacturers’ devices.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the company’s publisher services business is in talks to programmers to sell their OTT ad inventory on platforms including Apple TV, Android TV, Xbox and PlayStation. The report said programmers like CNN, Discovery and A&E, and services like Pluto TV and Tubi are already working with Amazon to sell ads.

Amazon has an advantage in targeting ads through the consumer data is collects on its e-commerce site. The company has told programmers that it can use this data to demand higher CPMs (up to $40 per), according to the report.

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Traditional TV advertising still controls a large portion of the overall advertising market in the U.S., but connected TV is expected to grab a larger share as more consumers turn to ad-supported streaming platforms and services.

EMarketer predicts spending will grow 37.6% this year to reach $6.94 billion, and by 2021, it will surpass $10 billion. By 2023, the total will be more than $14 billion.

Over the next five years, the rate of annual growth connected TV ad spending will slow, from a projected 28% in 2020 to 13% in 2023. But over that same period of time, the category’s percentage of total media ad spending will rise from 2.9% to 4.7%.

As Amazon looks to grow its OTT ad sales operation, the company is also expanding its lineup of ad-supported streaming video offerings. In addition to the company’s IMDb TV, Amazon last year launched a new customizable news app featuring content from CBS, Bloomberg and others.