Prime Video Comes to Freevee While Fire TV Gets FAST at NewFronts

As streaming has become a well-established presence in U.S. households, Amazon has a new statistic it wants to share this NewFronts.

The company said that Prime Video has become the most-subscribed-to streaming service in the U.S. and that advertisers can now reach an average monthly U.S. audience of 155 million across Amazon ad-supported streaming TV. That includes Amazon Freevee, Thursday Night Football, Twitch, Fire TV and third-party apps via Amazon Publisher Direct.

As part of that expansive reach, the company’s Monday night NewFronts presentation at New York’s Lincoln Center highlighted Freevee, new ad offerings around Thursday Night Football, measurement partnerships and FAST on Fire TV.

“We’re really excited to showcase how our streaming offerings can help brands effectively bridge content to commerce, whether that commerce is happening in our own store or involves products and services purchased elsewhere,” Alan Moss, vp of global advertising sales at Amazon Ads, told Adweek.

Primetime for Freevee

Today, the company said a slate of Prime Video original series are coming to free streamer Freevee for the first time—meaning advertisers will have the ability to buy into previously ad-free content.

More than 100 original series will eventually land on Freevee, including titles like Reacher, The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Wheel of Time, Troop Zero and Late Night.

“In my years of talking to advertisers and agencies, this has been one of the biggest requests for us, to be able to put their ads alongside Amazon Originals,” Moss said.

Freevee first began its push into original content in late 2020 and has seen great success with shows such as Bosch: Legacy and the James Marsden-led Jury Duty. (Marsden is one of the presenters at Amazon’s NewFronts event.)

In addition to the Freevee news, the company announced a host of new originals and pickups throughout the day, including Season 3 of Bosch: Legacy, Seasons 3 and 4 of Judy Justice and a greenlight for Justice on Trial, a new court program featuring Judge Judy.

Also, look out for The GOAT, a new reality series hosted by Daniel Tosh from the producers of The Bachelor, The Office and FBoy Island. Trevor Noah is also joining Freevee as host of Mock the Week, a half-hour topical and satirical panel show.

Fire TV gets FAST

Amazon and Fire TV have been onboard the FAST train since the beginning, but now the company is taking it further with the launch of Fire TV Channels.

The new flagship video experience will roll out this week, and it gives customers free access to a lineup of content, including local and national news, sports, lifestyle, entertainment and travel.

The offering will launch with dedicated rows on the Fire TV home screen under the ‘Free’ tab, including new content from the NHL, Xbox and TMZ. Soon, channels from Condé Nast and PGA will also join the lineup.

“The great thing about FAST content is you just click into it, and you’re just watching it,” Charlotte Maines, director of Fire TV advertising, monetization and engagement, told Adweek. “With the launch of Fire TV channels, we’re doubling down on the FAST experience we already offer.”

Fire TV recently surpassed 200 million in global sales across devices, and unlike the Freevee FAST offering, Fire TV Channels will be exclusive to Fire TV customers, giving advertisers a previously untapped FAST slate.

“Unlike Freevee, which is available on other living room devices, it’s very much an experience dedicated to short-form content,” Maines said. “It’s a little more like YouTube. How can we get free topical content in a way that makes sense to [customers]?”

Streaming beyond measure

The company’s lean-in to FAST and streaming isn’t without precedent.

During its NewFronts presentation, Amazon said that many of its audiences aren’t on linear TV, referencing a recent Nielsen study that found that Amazon streaming TV campaigns reach an average of 10.9% incremental viewers to linear viewership. In total, a whopping 72% of Amazon’s streaming TV viewers are not watching linear.

With its streaming prowess in mind, Amazon also announced new partnerships with measurement companies iSpot and VideoAmp, which advertisers can use to measure cross-screen impressions and reach, including out-of-home and local stations, complementing the first-party measurement solutions of Amazon Ads.

“We heard from advertisers and agencies that they want to start testing these providers, so that’s exactly what we’re making available,” Moss said.

According to the executive, there’s a good chance that Amazon will start to offer guarantees with iSpot and VideoAmp in 2024.

“This is a milestone that highlights the industry’s growing demand for advanced measurement and cross-platform solutions which are crucial for advertisers,” Michael Parkes, president of VideoAmp, said in a statement.

Sean Muller, CEO at iSpot, also endorsed the news, adding, “Today’s announcement underlines our commitment to brands, which need to understand advertising in the context of the broader TV and streaming landscape and gain a clear view of audience viewership inside and outside the home to justify and optimize investments.”

Giving marketers even more data capabilities, Amazon also announced a new tool—Amazon Marketing Cloud Audiences (AMC Audiences)—a clean room that lets advertisers combine their own inputs with Amazon signals. The new feature lets brands create and update their Amazon DSP audiences within AMC and activate them in Amazon DSP.

According to advertiser-provided data, an art office supply brand used AMC Audiences to help clients reach customers interested specifically in bulk purchase orders, which resulted in a 16% monthly sales increase without affecting its ads budget.

Game time

Last year, the NFL’s Thursday Night Football became exclusive to Amazon Prime Video for the first time. With a year of experience under its belt, Amazon is now adding new advertising options and creative within TNF. These include audience-based creative, which will let advertisers segment NFL-viewing audiences into custom cohorts at the same time.

With the new tech, advertisers can now launch creative tailored to each cohort based on geographic, demographic and behavioral signals—so an automotive brand could run a sports car ad, an SUV spot and an overarching brand spot to different audiences all within the same 30-second ad position.

Amazon is also adding clickable, interactive ads to TNF on Fire TV, which viewers can interact with without leaving the TNF football stream.

The company previously announced it would broadcast the first Black Friday NFL game in 2023. However, at NewFronts, Amazon offered more details.

In addition to Prime subscribers, all consumers will have access to the new NFL game, as Amazon looks to provide a Black Friday deal to more customers than ever.