Amazon Advertising boss on ad tiers: 'I don’t think about the competition'

According to Barb, 4.7 million UK homes were on the Netflix ad tier in Q4 2024. 

Barb’s data measures households rather than subscribers, so this figure cannot be compared with Amazon’s 19 million monthly users, but Barb estimated that 11.6 million households were on Prime Video’s ad tier.

The popularity of the ad tier is largely attributed to Amazon’s strategic decision to automatically switch users to the ad tier when it was introduced. 

However, one media buyer Campaign talked to said: “Netflix has less people on the ad tier than Prime does, but I think the people on the ad tier are seeing advertising more regularly on Netflix versus Prime.”

They added that people don’t sign up to Prime Video specifically, they sign up to get “everything” with Amazon Prime, such as next-day delivery, whereas people “consciously choose to pay the subscription for Netflix."

One media buyer said: “When you compare, say, Netflix and their ad tier, it feels like [Netflix] are really ramping it up in terms of bringing in more audiences to the ad tier quicker. Also, the programming is just more appealing than Prime.”

The media buyers agreed though, that Prime Video Ads was a valued platform, with one saying “We put it on every media plan we can” and the other saying that “overnight” the industry was presented with an “important VOD platform with scale”.

Integrating with the industry

Christer said that working with the industry was a priority for Amazon’s streaming service. 

He said: “Something we really committed to, right from the start, was integrating with Barb and working with industry bodies. What we've really tried to do is benefit the broadcast marketplace and help to change that and help to evolve that.”

In 2021, Barb started to report on SVOD services including Prime and in February 2024, the streamer joined Thinkbox, alongside Netflix and Disney+, following the launch of its ad tier.

Christer said: “I think there is room for the market to evolve and to grow. Everybody's going to have to evolve a little bit, but there could be multiple winners that come out of that.”

One media buyer added that the next thing they wanted from Prime Video Ads was for them to join CFlight. “I want to be able to know what Prime Video is adding in terms of reach.”

CFlight, part of Barb, measures the reach of ad campaigns across viewing platforms.

What’s next for the platform?

Next for the platform are shoppable and carousel ads, where viewers can add items to their shopping basket without leaving the streamer and they can also look at different iterations of the product. Pause ads are also set to be introduced, where viewers can pause the programme they’re watching and an ad will come up on screen.

Currently, Amazon is also searching for a sponsor for British flagship show Clarkson’s Farm, led by Jeremy Clarkson. 

It is also putting together its sponsorship proposition and what that’s going to look like across its platform.

When asked what Amazon needed to do next for Prime Video in the UK, one media buyer said: “I think [Amazon] needs to do more British programming and they say they’re going to do more of that.”

They also described the move of the Premier League rights back to Sky and TNT Sports as a “real loss” in terms of local content.

Amazon Prime’s coverage of the Premier League ended on 27 December 2024. However, the broadcaster did pick up the right to broadcast top-pick Tuesday Uefa Champions League fixtures, beginning August 2024. 

UK originals in 2025 so far have included Molly-Mae: Behind It All and My Fault London, with the next series of Clarkson’s Farm also set to air in 2025.