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Amazon (AMZN) is set to debut even more ads on its streaming service Prime Video next year, the company said just eight months after first introducing commercial breaks to the platform.
Kelly Day, vice president of Prime Video International, told the Financial Times on Wednesday that the e-commerce giant will be ramping up its ad slot inventory for 2025. The comments were made ahead Amazon’s first London upfront, a presentation made before the upcoming broadcast year through which media companies try to sell the bulk of their ads.
Prime Video first introduced ads in the beginning of the year — with an option for subscribers to go ad-free for an extra fee.
Day told the outlet that Amazon intentionally launched the new feature with a “very light ad load” as a “gentle entry into advertising.”
So far, ads have been a success for the company with little customer backlash.
Day said that Amazon hasn’t “really seen a groundswell of people churning out or cancelling” their subscriptions following the introduction of advertisements.
Ads have been a growing source of revenue for Amazon in recent years. Sales from the company’s digital advertising business rose about 20% to $12.8 billion in the second quarter of 2024, compared with the previous year.
Earlier this year, Amazon said that it will add three new ad formats to Prime Video later this fall.
Many other streaming services have added ad-supported tiers to their platforms and are now vying for advertisers’ money.
In August, Netflix (NFLX) stock hit an all-time high, following the news that it was able to increase its upfront ad sales commitments by 150% from 2023.
