Jassy: Prime Video can be profitable business on its own

The chief executive of Amazon has said the addition of advertising to Prime Video means it will be able to “continue investing meaningfully” in content.

“We have increasing conviction that Prime Video can be a large and profitable business on its own, and we’ll continue to invest in compelling exclusive content for Prime members like Thursday Night Football, Lord of the Rings, Reacher, Mr. & Mr. Smith, Citadel, and more Andy Jassy told an investor call.

Prime Video has added new broadcast rights for NASCAR, the National Women’s Soccer League, and Premier Boxing Champions in the United States; ICC Cricket in Australia; and Wimbledon tennis in Austria and Germany. However, it has stepped back from tennis in the UK and from Premier League football.

Revenue increased by 14% to $170 billion in the fourth quarter, a period which included the Thanksgiving to Christmas shopping season and Amazon’s October Prime Day, both of which the company said exceeded expectations.

Speaking about Prime Video’s introduction of ads across all content, Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said advertisers were excited about reaching the Prime Video customer base. “And we feel good about it, and we –the way we anticipate the ads progressing, we will not have heavy ad loads relative to see other network TV and other things. And like all of our advertising, we’re trying to be useful for customers.”

The company was also exploring ways to increase advertising on the Fire TV product, as well as FAST service FreeVee and Twitch.

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