Documents Reveal 26 Million U.S. Viewers Tuned into Amazon Prime Video in Early 2017

[MacRumors]

Amazon's U.S. audience for all movie and TV show programming on Amazon Prime Video was about 26 million customers in early 2017, according to company documents seen by Reuters.

Amazon Prime Video is provided as a benefit to Amazon Prime members who subscribe to Amazon's $99 per year Prime service, and features thousands of TV shows and movies, along with original content produced by Amazon.

Amazon has never revealed figures for its total Prime Video audience, but the documents provide an insight into the success of Amazon's successful original programming strategy, which involves producing content to entice consumers into Prime membership and boost merchandise sales.

For example, the documents cover late 2014 to early 2017 and compare metrics for 19 shows exclusive to Amazon, including cost, viewership and the number of people they helped lure to Prime. Known as Prime Originals, the shows account for around a quarter of what analysts believe to be total Prime sign-ups over the same period.

Video has grown to be one of Amazon's biggest expenditures at $5 billion per year for original and licensed content, two people familiar with the matter said. The company has never disclosed how many subscribers it won as a result, making it hard for investors to evaluate its programming decisions.

The internal documents show what Amazon considers to be the financial logic of its strategy, and why the company is now making more commercial projects in addition to high-brow shows aimed at winning awards, the people said.

According to the documents, season one of alternate history drama "The Man in the High Castle", which is based on Philip K Dick novel, had 8 million U.S. viewers as of early 2017. The program cost $72 million in production and marketing, and attracted 1.15 million new subscribers worldwide.

Amazon's accounting reveals that the show drew new Prime members at an average cost of $63 per subscriber. A Prime subscription costs $99, while Prime members often go on to buy more goods from Amazon than other consumers. The documents also reveal that Amazon drew over 5 million people globally into its Prime subscription membership by the beginning of the 2017.

Apple announced Amazon Prime for Apple TV last summer, but owners of the set-top box had to wait six months for the service to eventually drop. Amazon Prime Video supports Apple's centralized TV app, meaning users can use Siri Universal Search to find Amazon Prime Video content, and add it to their "Up Next" queue of shows and movies.

Article Link: Documents Reveal 26 Million U.S. Viewers Tuned into Amazon Prime Video in Early 2017

 

[Jsameds]

Would be even more if their app was half decent.

 

[Avieshek]

It used to be A-for-Apple.

It’s becoming A-for-Amazon.

 

[farewelwilliams]

would be more if they gave it its own location and name. just give me primevideo dot com or something so when i search for a specific TV show or movie on that site, I know that I can definitely stream it and not buy it.

 

[69Mustang]

Amazon is spending ~$5 billion on content per year. Netflix spent $6 billion for content last year and is spending $7-8 billion this year. Apple has to realize getting in the entertainment game is going to be more expensive than any other endeavor they've attempted.

 

[Tapiture]

Would be even more if their app was half decent.

I think their app is pretty good

 

[Jsameds]

I think their app is pretty good

I'm talking about their TV app specifically. Clunky to use, interface isn't smooth, duplicate titles on the screen at the same time, mixed Prime and Premium content together, poor search functionality, no way to skip intros and TV seasons are poorly implemented.

I use it, reluctantly, but underneath I can't stand it.

 

[Xavier]

I have been watching it since the app came out on Apple TV. With Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and Playstation Vu (with HBO), I have everything covered that I would want to watch.

 

[now i see it]

Not surprising. Netflix for one year costs the same as Amazon Prime - but with Amazon you get free fast shipping. Way better deal.

 

[gnipgnop]

Those numbers don't seem very big relative to the amount of money being spent.

 

[harriska2]

Not surprising. Netflix for one year costs the same as Amazon Prime - but with Amazon you get free fast shipping. Way better deal.

Our household watches much more Netflix than prime by about 6 to 1. And I agree with the “I wish they had a prime only site”. Even with Samsung smart tv app, you have to hunt through the categories to find Prime only.

 

[Carlanga]

would be more if they gave it its own location and name. just give me primevideo dot com or something so when i search for a specific TV show or movie on that site, I know that I can definitely stream it and not buy it.

Thats how it works on the apple apps for prime video and in the ps3 since they can't be used to buy videos.

 

[Jimmy James]

"Tuning in" gives me a visions of someone with an analog dial trying to fine tune the static.

 

[CarpalMac]

Not surprising. Netflix for one year costs the same as Amazon Prime - but with Amazon you get free fast shipping. Way better deal.

I have both. In the UK, compared to a SKY TV subscription, the two together still offer waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better value.

Sky can very easily cost over £70+ per month. Then of course you also have to deal with Sky and their cretinous customer services department. They are as arrogant as they are incompetent.

 

[Pman17]

Prime is the best too good to be true freakin deal. Get the same third party content as Netflix, free 2 day shipping, everything is cheap, free kindle books, free video games each month from Twitch, etc. But IMO, few of their own content is appealing to me. The Grand Tour was showing at the beginning of the month which was probably a majority of the viewership.

 

[jdillings]

Similarly, “Good Girls Revolt,” a critically-acclaimed show about gender inequality in a New York newsroom, had total U.S. viewership of 1.6 million but cost $81 million, with only 52,000 first streams worldwide by Prime members.

The program’s cost per new customer was about $1560, according to the documents.

Yikes! I'm sure Netflix has even more horror stories given how many awful shows they've greenlit in the last few years.

 

[budselectjr]

Amazon is spending ~$5 billion on content per year. Netflix spent $6 billion for content last year and is spending $7-8 billion this year. Apple has to realize getting in the entertainment game is going to be more expensive than any other endeavor they've attempted.

Apple isn’t going to lose money on making tv shows and take on massive amounts of debt like those two.

 

[69Mustang]

Apple isn’t going to lose money on making tv shows and take on massive amounts of debt like those two.

Who said Apple would be losing money or taking on massive debt? Did you reply to the right comment?

 

[nburwell]

Ever since Amazon finally released their long anticipated Apple TV app, I have been using Amazon Video even more than I did before. Netflix still blows Amazon out of the water in terms of original content, but I do appreciate Amazon's vast library. With Netflix, Amazon Video, PS Vue w/ HBO I have everything I watch covered.

 

[farewelwilliams]

Thats how it works on the apple apps for prime video and in the ps3 since they can't be used to buy videos.

i'm talking about the web.