Dive Brief:
- Amazon Live this week introduced a shoppable, free ad-supported channel (FAST) to Prime Video and its Freevee ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) streaming service, according to a company announcement.
- The new channel allows U.S. consumers to browse, shop and engage with content they’re watching on their TV screen via mobile devices by leveraging the e-commerce giant’s “shop the show” technology.
- The channel includes 24/7 programming featuring content from celebrities, creators and brands like Lala Kent (“Vanderpump Rules”), Tastemade and The Bump. The offering, which could help boost Amazon’s ads business, will also include a new original show with Paige DeSorbo (“Giggly Squad”) in June.
Dive Insight:
Seventy-five percent of U.S. adults are looking at a mobile device while they are watching television, according to 2023 Samba TV research, which helps explains why so many platforms — including NBCU and Disney — have been eager to launch shoppable TV services.
Meanwhile, Amazon reports that more than one billion people in the U.S. and India watched its Amazon Live content across desktop, mobile and Fire TV platforms last year. Enabling even a small percentage of that audience — not to mention three-quarters of them — to shop on its platform could be a big win for the online retailer.
Amazon’s plan to lure those shoppers relies heavily on its “shop the show” technology, which integrates its mobile app with onscreen content. While watching the FAST channel, customers using the app can type “shop the show” into the search bar, and they will be directed to a carousel highlighting the featured products depicted on television in real time.
“With the new ‘Amazon Live’ FAST Channel on Prime Video and Freevee, we’re making shoppable entertainment more accessible, interactive, and engaging than ever before,” said Wayne Purboo, vice president of Amazon Shopping Videos, in the announcement.
The FAST channel additionally will feature popular content from Amazon Live, including from creators like Rachel Clark, Madison LeCroy and Haley Kalil and brands like Tastemade and The Bump. Amazon Live will also collaborate with creators for new content made for the TV screen, including with DeSorbo, co-host of “Giggly Squad.” Consumers can watch the new channel by navigating to the “Live TV” tab on Prime Video, Fire TV or via the Freevee app.
The addition of a new ad-supported channel could help Amazon boost its already successful ads business. The e-commerce giant saw advertising sales grow 27% year-over-year for a total of $14.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023. The company’s overall net sales increased 14% to $170 billion during the period.
