The Amazon Prime Video service has reoriented its strategy towards live sports and abandoned television programs and original films, in order to achieve the internal profitability objectives of the company, reported The Information on Friday.
Amazon’s decision marks a turning point for the technology giant, which is no longer focused on original content to generate income.
Live sporting events, with their useful audience, offer valuable opportunities for targeted advertising investments, and have encouraged streaming companies to get more direct content agreements to stimulate advertising revenues.
The CEO of Amazon, Andy Jassy, aims to make prime video profitable by the end of 2025, and this change is part of the strategy to achieve this objective, according to the report, citing two sources familiar with the plans of the company.
Amazon has invested a lot in sporting content, spending about $ 3 billion a year for major leagues dissemination rights such as NBA and NFL, according to the report.
-In July, Amazon, ESPN (Walt Disney) and NBCUNIVERSAL (Comcast) signed the TRADs of NBA matches as part of an 11 -year agreement estimated at $ 77 billion. Amazon also started to place advertisements on its Prime Video platform last year.
Netflix, the biggest premium rival, also made a strong foray into live sport by signing agreements for NFL matches on Christmas day, a very publicized boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, as well as live events from WWE RAW.
After a planning meeting in 2022, the Amazon entertainment team ordered less cinematographic and television projects, according to the report which cites eight producers with current or recent projects with the company.
For 2024, Amazon’s annual budget for original and under license films, television programs and live sports was around 7 billion dollars, according to the report.
