<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">From: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">Protocol Alerts <<a href="mailto:entertainment@protocol.com" class="">entertainment@protocol.com</a>><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">Subject: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><b class="">Inside Amazon’s free video strategy</b><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">Date: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">7 October 2022 at 4:00:14 am GMT+2<br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">To: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><<a href="mailto:geert@networkcultures.org" class="">geert@networkcultures.org</a>><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">Reply-To: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">Protocol Alerts <<a href="mailto:entertainment@protocol.com" class="">entertainment@protocol.com</a>><br class=""></span></div><br class=""><div class=""><meta charset="UTF-8" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none;" class=""><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="100%" width="100%" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-spacing: 0px;" class=""><tbody style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><td align="left" valign="top" style="margin: 0px; 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padding: 0px;" class=""><tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><td valign="top" style="margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 50px !important; padding-bottom: 5px !important; padding-left: 20px !important; border-collapse: collapse;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 15px; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 25px; text-align: left;" class=""><div style="margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; margin-top: 0px !important;" class=""><span class="mso-font-fix-georgia">Important stories and breaking news from the Protocol team.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-spacing: 0px;" class=""><tbody style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><td align="center" width="100%" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-collapse: collapse;" class=""><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="width700 main-container" width="100%" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-spacing: 0px; width: 700px; max-width: 700px;"><tbody style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><td width="100%" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-collapse: collapse;" class=""><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-spacing: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(201, 201, 201);" class=""><tbody style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><td valign="top" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-collapse: collapse;" class=""><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-spacing: 0px;" class=""><tbody style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><td valign="top" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-collapse: collapse;" class=""><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-spacing: 0px;" class=""><tbody style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><td align="left" id="headline" style="margin: 0px; padding: 10px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 30px;" class=""><br class=""><strong class="">Inside Amazon’s free video strategy<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></strong><p style="margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 20px;" class="">Amazon has been doubling down on original content for Freevee, its ad-supported video service, which has seen a lot of growth thanks to a deep integration with other Amazon properties.</span></p><br class=""></td></tr><tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><td align="left" style="margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-weight: bold; font-size: 17px; padding-right: 10px !important; padding-left: 10px !important;" class=""><p style="margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">By Janko Roettgers | October 6, 2022</p></td></tr><tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><td height="10" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-collapse: collapse;" class=""> </td></tr><tr style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" class=""><td valign="top" style="margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px !important; padding-bottom: 10px !important; padding-left: 10px !important; border-collapse: collapse;" class=""><div class="introtext" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 17px; color: rgb(19, 19, 19); line-height: 25px; text-align: left;"><p style="margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Amazon’s streaming efforts have long been all about Prime Video. So the company caught pundits by surprise when, in early 2019, it launched a stand-alone ad-supported streaming service called IMDb Freedive, with Techcrunch<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://protocol.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6e257ecc70e801f57e3e6a9cd&id=a4841a1003&e=1a62ddaaff" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 49, 255); text-decoration: inherit;" class="">calling the move</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>“a bit odd.”</p><p style="margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Nearly four years and two rebrandings later, Amazon’s ad-supported video efforts appear to be flourishing. Viewership of the service<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://protocol.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6e257ecc70e801f57e3e6a9cd&id=c3482a7904&e=1a62ddaaff" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 49, 255); text-decoration: inherit;" class="">grew by 138%</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>from 2020 to 2021, according to Amazon. The company declined to share any updated performance data on the service, which is now called Freevee, but a spokesperson told Protocol the performance of originals in particular “exceeded expectations,” leading Amazon to increase investments into original content by 70% year-over-year.</p><p style="margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Key to Freevee’s success has been its deep integration with Prime Video and Fire TV, where it lives alongside ad-free subscription fare, pay-as-you-go rentals, and third-party subscription channels. Now Amazon is looking to broaden its international reach.</p><p style="margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">“I'm very excited about the possibility of an ad-supported service in front of the paywall in many countries,” said Ryan Pirozzi, who has been working on Amazon’s video strategy for over a decade and became head of Freevee in August.<br class=""><br class=""><strong class="">Continue reading on<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://protocol.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6e257ecc70e801f57e3e6a9cd&id=42952c0dca&e=1a62ddaaff" target="_blank" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 49, 255); text-decoration: inherit;" class="">Protocol.com...</a></strong></p></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></body></html>