Netflix No Longer Top Streaming Advertiser

Amazon Prime Video is officially spending more money on advertising than any other streaming [...]

By Brandon Davis

Amazon Prime Video is officially spending more money on advertising than any other streaming service. Previously, this title was held by Netflix but Netflix has cut back on their advertising budget while Amazon has bolstered their efforts, with Hulu making merely a minor increase on the same front.

A new study from MediaRadar points out that Amazon increased its digital ad spending by more than 300% in the first half of 2019 versus the year prior. Meanwhile, Hulu has increased their budget by about 75%, while Netflix looks to have cut back by about 60%.

"Our recent OTT analysis showed that Amazon Prime Video has shifted to become the biggest OTT spender in the first half of 2019," says Todd Krizelman, CEO of MediaRadar (via Forbes). "It also highlighted that Amazon Prime Video's jump to number one can in part be attributed to the heavy promotion of its new original content, including increased investment in native advertising. In fact, its native advertising spend rose 5X, year-over-year, when comparing 2018 and 2019."

Amazon Prime Video is focusing heavily on three of its original titles: Good Omens, The Boys, and Hanna. There must be a bit of success from the effort, as the company recently announced the The Boys has been one of their most-watched shows, ever.

Netflix is also promoting its original content, thuogh heavily through partnerships and licensing. Stranger Things, for example, has mobile and console games on the way, based on licensed content from Netflix. The brand has also teamed with Coke, Nike, Burger King, Baskin Robbins, and Fortnite to cross-promote their series. The method seems to be a lucrative opportunity which also saves Netflix money on an advertising budget.

In 2018, Netflix was out front of the total spending charts for digital ads half-way through the year.

"While spend amongst these top OTT providers can be volatile based around content releases, it is telling to see Amazon continue to invest in the platform and its original content, further enticing viewers to stay in, or even enter, the Amazon ecosystem," said Krizelman.

Are you watching anything on Amazon? Did the advertising get your attention? Share your thoughts and favorite streaming services in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram and Twitter!

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