iWorld
Prime Video hits 315 million ad-supported viewers
MUMBAI: Prime Video is turning up the volume on ad-supported streaming. The platform now reaches an average of 315 million ad-supported viewers globally every month, up from 200 million in April 2024, Amazon revealed at its annual flagship event.
This figure represents the unduplicated monthly audience across original and licensed series, films, live sports and events, and free ad-supported live channels on Prime Video. The estimate is based on Amazon’s internal data from September 2024 to August 2025, with some variation depending on local launch dates.
Prime Video Advertising vice president Jeremy Helfand said, “Reaching more than 315 million average monthly ad-supported viewers globally marks a transformative milestone for Prime Video. This expanded audience across 16 countries demonstrates our customer-obsessed approach to enhancing the viewing experience while delivering powerful opportunities for brands. We’re just beginning to unlock what’s possible when premium entertainment, engaged viewers, and innovative ad-tech converge with relevant and performant advertising at this unprecedented scale.”
Advertising on Prime Video is now available in 16 countries, including India, U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Japan, and Brazil. The milestone underscores Prime Video’s growing role as a global advertising destination, allowing brands to connect with highly engaged audiences through premium content.
With streaming and ad-tech combining like never before, Prime Video is proving that premium content can be both entertaining and commercially powerful, offering brands a stage to reach viewers at scale across the globe.
MUMBAI: If cricket were a binge-worthy series, this one just dropped its most explosive pilot yet. The opening weekend of the 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League has come out swinging, smashing records across both television and digital platforms and reaffirming the tournament’s unmatched pull in India’s sporting and media landscape.
Backed by two high-octane matches featuring 200-plus run chases, the tournament delivered a combined reach of over 515 million viewers across linear TV and digital platforms via JioStar’s broadcast ecosystem, including Star Sports and JioHotstar. More tellingly, engagement surged alongside reach, with total watch-time hitting 32.6 billion minutes, a sharp 26 per cent jump over the opening weekend of the previous season.
The numbers reveal a deeper shift in how India watches cricket. Connected TV (CTV) consumption rose by 30 per cent, while peak concurrency on digital platforms jumped 61 per cent, signalling a growing appetite for shared, big-screen streaming experiences. On traditional television, the momentum held strong, with TV ratings (TVR) climbing 24 per cent compared to earlier seasons’ opening matches.
A key driver of this spike has been the evolution of the viewing experience itself. This season introduced differentiated feeds, most notably a Hindi CTV broadcast featuring cricketing voices such as Ravichandran Ashwin, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan. Blending expert analysis with a watch-along format, the feed has added a conversational, almost second-screen feel without requiring viewers to leave their screens.
According to JioStar CEO for Sports Ishan Chatterjee, at the opening weekend underscores not just scale but also the depth of engagement that live cricket continues to command. He noted that the combination of large-screen viewing and digital interactivity is creating a more immersive and personalised experience, while also delivering tangible outcomes for brand partners.
From the league’s perspective, the early numbers point to a tournament that continues to reinvent itself. Arun Singh Dhumal, Chairman of the IPL, said the strong start reflects how high-quality cricket paired with enhanced viewing formats is resonating with audiences nationwide, while Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Devajit Saikia highlighted the “quality of engagement” as a key takeaway, not just the scale.
Commercially too, the opening weekend signals robust advertiser confidence. The broadcast is led by co-presenting sponsors including Google (Search AI Mode), Campa Energy, and Havells & Lloyd, alongside co-powered partners such as Birla Opus, Hero Motocorp and Amazon. A long tail of associate sponsors from OpenAI and Asian Paints to Flipkart and Amul further reflects the league’s unmatched ability to aggregate advertiser interest at scale.
Taken together, the opening weekend numbers are less a spike and more a statement. With 515 million viewers, 32.6 billion minutes of watch-time, and double-digit growth across formats, IPL 2026 has not just started strong, it has set the tone for a season that looks poised to push the boundaries of both sport and spectacle.
