80% of Amazon Prime Viewers Are Subscribed to the New Ad-Supported Tier

Last week, we covered Netflix’s continued reign over the world of streaming. But new data from eMarketer suggests a contender for the throne waits in the wings: Amazon Prime Video. This year, the service joined the ranks of the ad-supported by automatically turning their main subscription tier into one with ads — enrolling 160 million viewers into their new “with ads” basic tier. 

By now, around 20% of their users have upgraded to the premium, ad-free tier, but the ads-by-default move has set Prime up to more than double their ad revenues by the end of the year. eMarketer projections show Amazon pulling in over $3.88 billion in CTV ad revenues by 2025 — putting them ahead of heavy hitters like Netflix and Disney+. The catch? Prime Video viewers are watching significantly less content on their platform than other services are seeing (like “41 minutes less than Netflix a day” less). To keep their momentum going despite that hiccup, Amazon’s hoping that investing more in their content — especially live sports — will do the trick.

Connected TV in the News

Disney+ and Hulu CTV Ad Inventory Will Be Available via Google and the Trade Desk
eMarketer
In a major shift, Disney will begin selling Connected TV ad inventory through Google and The Trade Desk’s programmatic, demand-side platforms. And they aren’t alone: NBCUniversal will also work to make ad inventory for the Olympics and Paralympics available programmatically.

The Majority of Advertising Professionals Are Using AI
MNTN Research
MNTN and AdExchanger partnered to gather insights on how advertising professionals are using or plan to use AI, how they feel about the technologies and more. Here are some of our top findings.

Two-Thirds of U.S. Adults Would Rather Wait To Watch Movies on Streaming
IndieWire
A new poll from HarrisX found that 34 percent of U.S. adults prefer to watch movies in theater — meaning a solid two-thirds would rather wait for them to be released on streaming.