Amazon’s Upfront Underscores Podcasts As Part Of Its Multichannel Ad Vision.

Podcasts had center stage during Amazon’s appearance during the television upfront this week. Travis and Jason Kelce, whose show New Heights has a distribution deal with Wondery, were among the first famous names the company brought out to entice marketers to spend money with it.

“With the podcast being both audio and video, fans are getting the most authentic look who we are just two brothers from northeast Ohio catching up on the latest sports and entertainment news, and, of course, giving each other a bunch of sh*t,” said Jason Kelce.

But the message wasn’t a direct pitch to buy podcast ads. But rather Amazon positioned itself as a way to reach consumers across multiple channels.

“Now is the time for full funnel advertising at scale,” said VP of U.S. Ad Sales Tanner Elton. He said that Amazon now has an average monthly ad-supported audience of more than 300 million, which is up from 275 million when the company took the upfront stage a year ago. That includes 130 million who see ads on Prime Video. Elton didn’t break out any podcast specifics, but instead Amazon brands connect consumers “from sun-up to sundown to the content they obsess over” with “unbelievable opportunities” for brand. He noted that includes the ability to seamlessly jump from content to e-commerce. Elton said Amazon is also using the vast amount of data signals it has in its arsenal to create new contextual ad formats powered by AI technology. “In the past, context was about what show or genre a particular viewer was watching with a one size fits all created message. Now it’s about a message tailored to me just that moment,” he said.

Jason and Travis Kelce signed a three-year deal last August with Wondery worth a reported $100 million. It gives the Amazon-owned studio exclusive advertising and distribution rights to New Heights on both audio and video. The series remains widely distributed, but Wondery will offer ad-free listening on its Wondery+ app.