Amazon has agreed to pay $250m for the global TV rights to Lord of the Rings.

This is just for the rights and does not include production or artist salaries!

Amazon, HBO and Netflix were all approached by the Tolkien estate. The starting bid was believed to be $200m which would dwarf any similar show.

This content will fit nicely with Amazon’s rumored launch of an ad-supported version of Prime Video.

Previously on SOTS. Netflix tests pre-roll video ‘previews’ that are personalized to your interests

The average Netflix user watches 1h, 33m of content per day.

If we assumed a 16-minute ad load per hour (similar to TV), then each Netflix customer could potentially receive 48 30-second spots per day or 336per week.

At a $25/CPM that would generate $1.20 in ad revenue per user/day or $37.20 per month.

The most expensive Netflix plan is currently $11.99 per month.