Media Observed

Amazon’s behind the scenes back-down in bid for TV ad millions

Sam Buckingham-Jones and Mark Di Stefano

Oct 2, 2023 – 5.00am

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Late last month, Amazon told local media companies that, come September 30, they would need to hand over 30 per cent of the revenue they make from ads that run on the Amazon Fire TV device. The networks – Seven, Nine, Ten and SBS – were clearly unhappy, threatening to pull their streaming apps (like 7plus, 9Now, 10Play and SBS On Demand) from the device.

Days after that new policy was to begin, the word is Amazon has backed down. The networks are being told not to worry – the global policy does not apply to them. But a spokeswoman for Amazon told us: “The advertising content policies apply globally.” Amazon was “working closely with our partners on the timeline and specific details of their implementation”.

Sam Buckingham-Jones is the media and marketing reporter at The Australian Financial Review.

Mark Di Stefano is Rear Window columnist, based in the Sydney newsroom. He previously worked at BuzzFeed, the Financial Times and The Information before joining the Financial Review as a media and tech correspondent.