After ‘Thursday Night Football’ Fell Short of Audience Estimates, Amazon is Reportedly Refunding Advertising Dollars
The first season of streaming-exclusive “Thursday Night Football” on Prime Video is over, and Amazon might not be too sorry to get the offseason to regroup.
According to reporting from Business Insider, Prime Video fell short of its preseason audience estimates for Thursday night games by 25%. Amazon is now reportedly refunding advertisers or offering them other ad inventory to make up for the shortfalls.
Insider also reports that Amazon’s asking price for ads was significantly higher than normal, even for NFL games. The company started out asking for $80 to reach 1,000 people with an ad, roughly twice the amount that broadcast TV companies are paid to show ads with games. Amazon lowered that price to $60, but the still-high price tag is another reason the company is now forced to make good on those ads with agencies. Part of the reason that the streamer was hoping to squeeze extra advertising dollars out of the operation is that the “TNF” viewership on Prime Video was younger than for traditional broadcasts.
The company reports that Nielsen’s tracking numbers show “TNF” in 2022 finished the season with the youngest median age of any NFL broadcast package since 2013 and enjoyed a double-digit jump over the previous season among hard-to-reach 18 to 34-year-old viewers.
“We are incredibly proud of our inaugural exclusive season of TNF, and gratified by the positive response from sports fans, especially hard-to-reach younger fans,” said Marie Donoghue, Amazon’s vice president of global sports video. “Along with a top-notch game broadcast, fans are increasingly looking for fresh voices, optionality, and personalization, all of which we delivered, and will continue to build upon in the coming seasons.”
Prime Video saw 9.6 million viewers tune in on average for the 14 “TNF” games this season. That figure is 41% lower than the audience numbers the NFL saw during the 2021 season when Thursday games were split amongst Prime Video, FOX, the NFL Network, and local broadcast stations. While the games this season were Prime Video exclusives, they were also broadcast on linear channels in the local markets for each team participating, eating away a subset of Amazon’s ratings.
Amazon’s struggles in making good on its advertising promises are reminiscent of Netflix’s troubles in that regard. Netflix has also found itself refunding advertisers, as the ad-supported price tier it launched in November is struggling to meet the lofty expectations the company set for it when approaching advertising companies.
It was not totally unexpected that “TNF” would struggle in its first year as a streaming exclusive. Amazon tried to prepare advertisers and fans by lowering expectations for the season in August, but a highly successful season debut led many to believe the sky was the limit for “TNF” on Prime Video. Pulling in younger audiences is a good start, but Prime Video must build on its success in Year 2 if it wants to prove the long-term viability of football as a streaming exclusive.
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.