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Amazon has scheduled its return to the main week of upfront presentations to advertisers in New York, slotting it on the evening of May 12 at the Beacon Theatre.
The Monday slot and 6:30 p.m. start time are both changes from last May’s debut upfront event, which was held at Pier 36 on the southeastern tip of Manhattan on a Tuesday morning. Due to road construction and rush-hour traffic delays, the event got off to a late start and had a line of attendees stretching out to the FDR Drive. Despite that hiccup, the star-laden pitch went on to wow the audience and set the stage for an upfront ad haul in excess of the tech giant’s internal forecast for $1.8 billion.
Amazon’s announcement is the first by any of the presenters from last year’s field, which included Netflix and YouTube alongside traditional media presenters like Disney, Fox, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount Global has recently opted out of a traditional New York upfront in favor of smaller-scale client dinners in multiple cities.
Prime Video began running ads on original series and films in January 2024, providing new inventory in a portfolio that also includes Amazon MGM Studios, Fire TV Channels, Twitch, Wondery, IMDb, Amazon Live and Amazon Music. After notching steady growth in NFL Thursday Night Football viewership, Prime will add NBA and WNBA broadcasts later this year after locking an 11-year deal with the league.
In making the upfront announcement at CES in Las Vegas, Amazon said the presentation will include “developments from Amazon Ads, a star-studded lineup of talent, and news from Amazon’s vast entertainment universe.” For those unable to attend the event live at the Beacon, Amazon plans to make it available virtually, promising to announce more details about the livestream in the next few weeks.
“We’ve received positive feedback from agencies and brands leading to strong demand following our first upfront with Prime Video ads,” said Alan Moss, VP of Global Ad Sales. “Advertisers are leaning into our comprehensive offering of full-funnel advertising solutions. We’re connecting campaign tactics across awareness, consideration, and conversion into a cohesive strategy to directly measure the contribution of each tactic and enable on-going business growth.”
Amazon Ads claims reach to a monthly ad-supported audience of more than 275M in the U.S. across Amazon’s owned and operated properties and a number of third-party publishers.
Amazon Ads is expanding advertising on Prime Video in Brazil, India, Japan, the Netherlands, and New Zealand this year. The roster of countries currently up and running includes Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, U.K., and the U.S. Prime customers can pay a premium each month to stream without ads.
