Amazon’s Prime Video Ad Tier Helps Boost Q1 Ad Revenue By 24% to $11.8 Billion

The launch of Prime Video’s ad-supported tier in January helped boost Amazon’s overall advertising services revenue for the first quarter of 2024 by 24% to $11.8 billion.

Meanwhile, subscription services revenue, which includes annual and monthly fees associated with Amazon Prime memberships, as well as digital video, audiobook, digital music, e-book, and other non-AWS subscription services, climbed 11% year over year to $10.7 billion.

Other revenue, which includes sales related to various other offerings, such as certain licensing and distribution of video content, health care services, shipping services and co-branded credit card agreements, grew 23% year over year to $1.26 billion.

Here are Amazon’s top-line results for the quarter:

Net income: $10.4 billion, more than triple the $3.2 billion in the prior-year period.

Earnings Per Share: 98 cents per share, compared to the 82 cents per share expected by analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

Net Sales: $143.3 billion, up 13% year over year, compared to $142.53 billion expected by analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

Ad Revenue: $11.8 billion, up 24% from $9.5 billion in Q1 of 2023

“It was a good start to the year across the business, and you can see that in both our customer experience improvements and financial results,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement. “It’s very early days in all of our businesses and we remain excited by how much more we can make customers’ lives better and easier moving forward.”

In Amazon’s annual shareholder letter in April, Jassy said that streaming advertising was “off to a strong start” and “growing quickly,” noting that brands can reach over 200 million monthly viewers.

“I think advertisers are excited about being able to expand their ability to advertise with us on video beyond Twitch and Freevee to Prime Video shows and movies,” Jassy told analysts during the company’s first quarter earnings call. “I think they also find that the relevancy and the measurability of that type of advertising and Prime Video Ads is a unique forum.”

Prime Video’s ad tier is the default for all subscribers. Those who want an ad-free streaming experience will be charged an additional $2.99 per month. Currently, Amazon Prime, which includes Prime Video, costs $14.99 per month or $139 a year. A membership that only includes Prime Video and none of the company’s shipping benefits costs $8.99 a month.

During the quarter, Prime Video released 20 films and series from Amazon MGM Studios. Titles include the first season of “Fallout” which attracted more than 65 million viewers worldwide and has become the second most-watched title ever on Prime Video through its first 16 days; “Road House,” which attracted more than 50 million viewers worldwide in its first two weekends streaming on Prime Video — the biggest debut ever for an Amazon MGM Studios-produced film; “Hazbin Hotel,” which had the most total global viewers on its opening weekend for a new animated series on Prime Video; and “The Beekeeper,” which ranked in the top-10 of theatrical releases by revenue globally in the first quarter.

The streamer also grew its international slate of content with more than 30 local originals, including its first weekly live entertainment show “Operación Triunfo,” “Indian Police Force,” which had the most viewers complete the entire first season for any Amazon India original in its launch week, and the sixth season of “Last One Laughing,” the longest running edition of the global franchise.

Looking ahead, Prime Video will stream its first NFL Wild Card playoff game in January 2025. The platform, which is home to “Thursday Night Football,” will have exclusive rights to air an opening round playoff game. It also will create “Beast Games,” a new series from YouTube creator Mr.Beast that will see 1,000 contestants compete for $5 million — the biggest single prize in the history of television and streaming.

Other initiatives include a new partnership that will bring personalized streaming from Fire TV and access to Alexa to Panasonic’s new smart TVs. Amazon also announced Matter Casting, a new feature that allows customers to watch a movie or series on Prime Video from their phone and cast it to a compatible Fire TV or Echo Show 15 device to continue watching on a bigger screen. Customers can stream and control content on their television or streaming stick from their mobile app.

Amazon shares jumped as much as 3% in after-hours trading on Tuesday following the release of the quarterly results.

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