Prime Video Says Young Viewers Flocked to ‘Thursday Night Football,’ Giving Insight to Sports Future
Sifting through Amazon’s quarterly earnings calls is a bit like panning for gold. There’s a lot of nothing to sort through, especially since Amazon does not offer subscriber numbers for its streaming service Prime Video. Still, every once in a while, the company sneaks a little nugget in there.
Such was the case this week, when Amazon released its fourth-quarter earnings report. In it, the company offered an optimistic piece of news regarding its first season as the primary home of “Thursday Night Football.”
The report shows that Prime Video captured the youngest audience of any NFL broadcast package since 2013. “TNF” saw an 11% rise in the number of 18 to 34-year-olds over the audience that watched in 2021. The younger age group is the most valued demographic because of its perceived high level of expendable income amongst advertisers.
“TNF” also helped Prime Video reach heights no other streaming service has ever accomplished. Four “TNF” games made it into Variety's Top 100 Broadcasts of 2022 list, the first time a streaming service has ever cracked the list.
It’s not surprising that Amazon is touting these numbers in its Q4 earnings. Most of the news regarding the first year in which “TNF” was not offered nationally on a linear network was downright dismal for Prime Video. Things started well, with the first “TNF” stream garnering over 13 million viewers.
But it began to go downhill quickly for Prime Video, as the product on the field got worse and fewer viewers returned to the service in following weeks. By the end of the season, Prime Video saw a 41% drop in viewers from the average of 16.2M each game garnered in 2021, when “TNF” was also offered on FOX and/or the NFL Network.
However, that doesn’t mean that Amazon is pumping the brakes on its future sports offerings. The company is reportedly exploring the possibility of launching its own sports streaming service, which suggests it means to add to its lineup of live sports offerings. Currently, Prime Video streams select English Premier League soccer matches, as well as in-market New York Yankees games and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm.
Prime Video is rumored to be looking to secure the rights for NBA games when the league’s current media deal expires, as well. The service already holds some NBA streaming rights in Brazil, where it will stream up to 87 games —including playoff contests— in the current 2022-23 season. The NBA’s domestic broadcast deal expires after the 2024-25 season, and Prime Video could be a major bidder for a portion of those rights.
Attracting a younger demographic for “TNF” is a key first step for sports on streaming, but Prime Video must double down in the upcoming season and improve its viewership across every demographic to truly make the sports investment worthwhile. If it doesn’t, it will have a tough time convincing other major sports leagues that it’s the best place for streaming their games in the future.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Boys,” and more. Subscribers can also add third-party services like Max, Showtime, STARZ, and dozens more with Amazon Prime Video Channels. Prime Video also offers exclusive live access to NFL Thursday Night Football.