Amazon Doubles Down on Advertising Push in Return to TV’s Upfront Week

Amazon is once again looking to take on the traditional TV companies in the advertising space, using the Consumer Electronics Show to announce a return to TV’s upfront week, and taking over a time that in past years has been the home for Fox.

Amazon says that it will hold its upfront on Monday, May 12 at 6:30 p.m. at The Beacon Theater in New York. That is a new day and time for Amazon, which last year held its event Tuesday morning. Monday afternoon and evening has traditionally been when Fox holds its upfront.

And Amazon says that it plans to use its event to push all of its ad-supported business and media ambitions, including Amazon MGM Studios, Prime Video, Twitch, Wondery, and Fire TV Channels. The company says that it now has a monthly ad-supported audience of more than 275 million in the U.S. alone.

“We’ve received positive feedback from agencies and brands leading to strong demand following our first upfront with Prime Video ads,” said Alan Moss, Vice President of Global Ad Sales. “Advertisers are leaning into our comprehensive offering of full-funnel advertising solutions. We’re connecting campaign tactics across awareness, consideration, and conversion into a cohesive strategy to directly measure the contribution of each tactic and enable on-going business growth.”

Last year’s upfront stunned the ad buyers with a cavalcade of stars, including Reese Witherspoon in character as Elle Woods, and appearances from Will Ferrell, Roger Federer, Jake Gyllenhaal, Aldis Hidge and Alicia Keys.

This time, the company will come with a deck stacked even further. Since that upfront Prime Video inked a long-term deal with the NBA, giving the service year-round live sports with the NFL, NBA, and NASCAR. And Wondery signed Jason and Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast, giving it one of the most popular programs in the country (the company notes that “with opportunities abound, marketers will have access to advertise against a wide-array of sports content,” citing their podcast with its sports rights, suggesting the ability to buy across mediums).

Amazon is expected to add inventory and capacity this year, though specifics remain under wraps for now.

Next year it will also roll out ad tiers in Brazil, India, Japan, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.