Come weekends, people are glued to their OTT screens. More than a theatrical release, audiences now await the OTT release. Such is the impact these OTT platforms have created. Video streaming has taken the world by storm, and players like Amazon Prime Video just started at the right time to make it one of the top players.

OTT platforms stream movies, television series, sports, live events, educational content, and more. The variety they offer in multiple languages has ignited their growth to a great level. In this blog, let us explore how Amazon Prime Video operates and its subscriber growth.

All about Amazon Prime Video

Launched in 2011, Amazon Prime Video is a subscription-based video-on-demand streaming platform of the American giant Amazon. Originally started as a platform to distribute movies and television series in the USA, it soon spread its reach across the globe.

The platform also streams live sports events, produces original content, and distributes videos for rental. Amazon Prime Video can be viewed on multiple platforms like smartphones, Smart TVs, web browsers, and gaming consoles. 

Prime Video has thousands of movie and TV show listings in its library in various languages, attracting audiences from different corners of the world. 

Amazon Prime Video now stands second in the OTT market with over 220 million subscribers around the world. 

Global subscriber growth

The USA is still the major market for Amazon Prime Video, while it has seen a massive increase in subscribers in other parts of the world, too. The count of Amazon Prime has crossed the 200 billion mark, which means a 33.3% increase after 2019. The pandemic period saw the highest growth in its subscribers, the reason being obvious.

Continuous expansion of video content in multiple languages, and flawless streaming have also been factors adding to the subscriber growth. 

USA: Largest market with more than 180million, and almost reaching saturation.

India: Rapid increase in subscribers and a strong target to achieve the next 250 million count.

Europe: Significant increase in revenues reaching up to USD5 billion.

Southeast Asia: Though this region has also stepped up its subscriber count, it is comparatively modest as opposed to the other markets.

Monetization Model: How Does Prime Video Earn from Customers?

1. Subscription-based video-on-demand

This is the core revenue model of Amazon Prime Video. In this, Prime Video targets the subscription of audiences. To access content on the platform, viewers have to choose a subscription plan, either monthly or yearly. With this, they can access the huge library of content available on Prime Video.

The subscription plans vary according to your geographical location. For those who do not opt for full-time prime membership, standalone subscription plans are also available.

Even with a subscription, certain content may not be available in all regions. On activation of a Prime Video subscription, members get certain additional benefits like free shipping and member-only access for orders through Amazon. 

2. Rental service

Also known as pay-per-view, the other source of revenue for Prime Video is rentals of movies and TV shows. Certain content may not be available with the regular subscription plans, and this can be purchased for a one-time access. 

For example, to watch a live telecast of an event or sport, Prime Video may charge a pay-per-view fee. This also holds good for some movies or shows that are not available in certain regions, but can be accessed by paying for rentals. 

3. Advertisements-based vieo-on-demand

Amazon Prime Video displays advertisements from brands during video playback and earns revenue through them. To view content ad-free, an additional subscription is charged, and this proves to be highly profitable for Prime Video.

Amazon Prime charges brands to use its platform to stream their ads. This is a great advantage for brands, given the global reach of Prime Video. 

4. Merchandise

Amazon Prime Video earns revenue through the sale of merchandise on its platform. Apparel, collectibles, home furnishings, home decor, and accessories are some of the merchandise sold.

Many of these feature the Amazon Prime Video logo. These can be purchased from the Amazon website. 

5. Content licensing

Another monetization route of Prime Video is content licensing. It licenses its original content to other platforms and earns additional revenue. 

Content providers license their content to Amazon Prime Video, for which Amazon charges them a fee. This can be charged per hour or on revenue revenue-sharing basis.

How Much Money Does Amazon Prime Video Make?

The various monetization models of Prime Video have helped it maintain a strong financial position over the years. From just subscription services, it reached an all-time high of USD44.37 billion by the end of 2024, surpassing the previous year’s figures.

Advertisement revenues alone reached a whopping USD56.2 billion, indicating that the introduction of this stream has proved to be highly profitable. 

The growing number of subscribers globally has been the major factor contributing to the massive revenue growth of Prime. 

Cost incurred by Amazon Prime Video

Licencing

Prime Video acquires a lot of movies and shows from various content owners, and this involves a huge cost. Live video streaming, such as sports, is even more expensive. Reports show that Amazon’s spending on licensing for others’ content has significantly risen over the years.

Content production

Own production by Prime also involves heavy expenditure. Varied kinds of expenses like talent acquisition, marketing, filming, etc., are involved in original content production. What was USD5.6 billion in 2015 rose to USD18.9 billion in 2024.

Infrastructure

Prime Video spends a considerable amount on buying data storage capacity to house its huge library of content.

It also needs to spend on software updates and maintenance to ensure a seamless viewing experience for the viewers across multiple devices. This involves maintaining its bandwidth for streaming as well.

Marketing

A huge amount is spent on promotions and advertisements to ensure Prime Video reaches a wider population. This has incredibly helped the platform increase its subscriber base. 

Many internet service providers offer Prime membership as a bundle offer, and this also forms part of promotion campaigns by Amazon. 

Live streaming 

Acquiring the rights to stream live sports events contributes to heavy expenditure by the Prime Video platform. But this is offset by the substantial increase in viewership, thereby balancing revenues.

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