Amazon in the lead in OTT advertising in the beginning of May
In early May, Amazon led OTT advertising in both quantity and diversity by heavily promoting its show Catastrophe across multiple sites and networks, while Netflix and Hulu followed with Netflix spreading ads across 19 shows including Dear White People, and Hulu focusing on The Handmaid’s Tale amid the broader industry shift toward OTT platforms and live TV offerings like Hulu Live TV and YouTube TV.
Each month MediaRadar pairs with Found Remote, a global media platform focused on the evolving TV industry, and analyzes ad data across six select OTT providers to see who’s advertising where and which shows are garnering the most attention. In this series, we are coming to understand both how OTTs are diversifying their marketing efforts and where they are going.
Going into early May, Amazon is in the lead across the board in quantity and diversification of ads, with Netflix and Hulu definitively holding the next two spots.
- The migration towards OTT programming is upon us. With more and more viewers opting to replace traditional TV providers with cheaper OTT alternatives, broadcast networks are adapting. Hulu recently unveiled its Live TV offering, which includes access to ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. Hulu’s offering is extremely similar to YouTube TV, which began in February.
- Amazon focused on pushing Catastrophe, a show in its third season which features the culture clash of an American man moving to the UK to chase love. The series was marketed on 35 sites and 10 networks.
- The Handmaid’s Tale, recently renewed for a second season, was Hulu’s most advertised show over the past two weeks. They marketed the show on 28 networks and 14 sites. The show is the flagship for Hulu, and possibly their best shot at winning an Emmy.
- Netflix did not concentrate their marketing strategy on a single show but rather spread it across 19 shows. One show, however, garnered more attention than most: Dear White People. Based on a film of the same name, it has received a 100% rating and the “Certified Fresh” label from critics at Rotten Tomato.
- SeeSo and Motor Trend only marketed one show each, Hidden America and Pirelli World Challenge, respectively.
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