Amazon is preparing for more advertising on Prime Video

Amazon plans to run more advertising for its top TV shows and movies on its Prime Video streaming service.

Prime is planning new advertising slots for 2025, according to an interview in the Financial Times (FT) on Wednesday (October 2) with Prime Video vice president Kelly Day.

Day told the FT that Prime Video decided earlier this year to introduce a “very low ad load” to “provide a soft entry into advertising that has exceeded customers' expectations of the advertising experience.”

According to the FT, Amazon's global advertising reach is around 200 million, with more than half of that in the US

Day also noted that customer churn was “much, much lower than we expected.”…We haven't really seen a wave of people churning or canceling.” She also said that less than 20% of customers are would have chosen to pay more for ad-free content.

Amazon also plans to stream live coverage of the US election as well as live sports and music events, Day told the FT. There are also plans to introduce interactive and “shoppable” ad formats for Prime Video, she added.

The streaming service's plans for more advertising next year come as it surpassed its $1.8 billion goal for advertising commitments this year.

That total includes commercials on the company's live sports broadcasts, including the NFL's “Thursday Night Football,” PYMNTS reported Sept. 27.

Amazon first announced in September 2023 that it would include “limited advertising” in Prime Video shows and films and also offer an ad-free tier for an additional charge.

“We want to run significantly less advertising than linear television and other streaming TV providers,” Amazon said in a blog post when announcing the move.

The company's announcement came at a time when advertising was playing a larger role in streaming. Netflix introduced its ad-supported tier last year.

In July, Netflix executives told investors that the ad-supported tier saw membership growth of 34% in the second quarter.

Advertising revenue is “growing well” and becoming a “more meaningful contributor to our business,” Netflix said at the time. “However, building a business from the ground up takes time – and coupled with the level of our subscription revenue, we do not expect advertising to be the primary driver of our revenue growth in 2024 or 2025.”