Skip to main content

Screen Wars Thought Leader Interviews are also available on

SpotifyApple PodcastGoogle Podcast
State of the Screens

How the epic ‘Lord of the Rings’ deal explains Amazon’s slow-burning media strategy

By March 21, 2019No Comments
Head to head: Amazon beat out competitors such as HBO, Netflix, and Apple to win the rights to the upcoming Lord of the Rings series.

Amazon was not even the highest bidder at $250M instead it was their ability to sell more books that put them over the top!

Strategy: Selling stand-alone video subscriptions and/or video advertising is not currently at the top of Amazon’s strategy compared to adding customers to the Prime service.

Annual spend on Amazon:
1)
Prime — $1,400
2)
Non-Prime — $600

Amazon prime users (% of households):
1)
2017–52M (42%)
2) 2018–59M (47%)
3) 2019P — 64M (51%)
4) 2020P — 69M (55%)
5) 2021P — 72M (57%)

More: Amazon has been a business bulldozer, except in video

Michael Beach

Michael Beach is the Chief Executive Officer of Cross Screen Media, a media analytics and software company that enables marketers to plan, activate, and measure CTV and linear TV at the local level. Michael is also the founder and editor of State of the Screens, a weekly newsletter focused on video advertising that is a must-read for thought leaders in the advertising industry. He has appeared in such publications as PBS Frontline, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Axios, CNBC and Bloomberg, and on NPR’s Planet Money podcast.