Lily Kholar's blog : Amazon Joins the Upfronts
Are the Upfronts now the New-NewFronts? If this year’s streamer-studded lineup is anything to go by, you would be forgiven if you’re getting confused! Hot on the heels of Netflix and YouTube’s announcements, we now know that Amazon, too, will be joining the traditional Upfronts crowd. Brandon Blake, our expert analyst and entertainment attorney at Blake & Wang P.A., shares all the details so far.
Brandon Blake
An Amazon Upfront
Until recently, the Upfronts has remained the territory of more traditional studios and distributors, with many of the streaming services (at least those with an advertising revenue component, such as FAST services) confined themselves to the aptly named NewFronts. With so many streaming services entering the AVOD arena, however, that distinction is blurring by the day.
Amazon will be hosting an Upfronts event on May 14, the middle of a major week for ad buyer-focused presentations. They will be covering all arms of their service, from Prime Video and the burgeoning Prime Video Sports right through to Amazon Freevee, Amazon Music, and Twitch, the online gaming streaming platform. Despite this shift to an Upfronts presence, they will reportedly retain their NewFronts presentation spot as well, although we don’t yet know how the two pitches will differ.
A Rising Streaming Presence
Amazon has seen some major streaming ad growth over the last few months, especially centered on its live sports streaming, like Thursday Night Football. Controversially, the main Prime Video service was recently completely shifted to an AVOD model, with subscribers wanting an ad-free experience compelled to opt into their new, slightly more costly, premium tier. This contrasts notably with other streaming services, which have typically chosen to launch their AVOD tier as a full standalone subscription offering.
This year’s Upfronts week will see the most events since the pandemic forever altered the entertainment landscape. The so-called ‘Big Tech’ interlopers have moved into the space in a major way, responding to the drastic shift in the advertising and streaming landscape we’ve seen in the last year or so.
For Amazon, specifically, perhaps this year’s Upfronts will clear up some of the cloud of confusion hanging over their FAST TV service, Freevee. Some industry experts have raised questions about Freevee’s future given the move of the main Prime Video channel into the ad-supported space as well. For now, however, Amazon has assured us that Freevee will remain a standalone service accessible to all viewers, whether or not they own a Prime subscription.
As far as the traditional Upfronts contenders go, so far only Paramount Global has opted out of a major presentation. Instead, they will be focusing on a newer, more intimate marketing model shorn of their usual lavish Carnegie Hall event.
As always in the entertainment industry, change and evolution are the watchwords of the moment. As we go forward into a streaming space that has changed considerably even from this point in 2023, with the boom in live sports streaming and the acceleration of ad-supported options, this year’s Upfronts are shaping up to be an interesting one indeed.
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