The two largest connected TV (CTV) platforms in the United States are joining forces to offer advertisers the largest amount of streaming ad inventory in the market.
Late Sunday evening, Roku and Amazon said their partnership will allow advertisers to tap into available inventory from both CTV platforms, which account for a whopping 80 percent market share in the U.S. The announcement was made as both platforms were set to present at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
“Roku and Amazon are unlocking an addressable CTV audience at an unprecedented scale that will enable CTV as a true performance solution for all advertisers,” a spokesperson for the companies said in a statement emailed to The Desk just as Monday was starting on the East Coast.
The partnership will see Roku and Amazon inventory sold through Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner (DSP) program. It allows advertisers to tap into opportunities through The Roku Channel and Amazon’s Prime Video, as well as third party apps available on Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, including Disney Plus, Fox, Paramount Plus, Tubi and Max, and “all premium publishers,” the companies affirmed.
“The integration utilizes a custom identity resolution service, allowing Amazon DSP to recognize logged-in viewers across the Roku OS and devices in the U.S.,” the companies said. “This exclusive capability enables advertisers to reach the same viewer deterministically across different streaming channels and devices, providing more accurate audience targeting and measurement than previously possible.”
“Our exclusive partnership with Roku is a giant leap for advertisers, bringing best-in-class planning, audience precision, and performance to TV advertising,” said Paul Kotas, the Senior Vice President at Amazon Ads. “The collaboration enables agencies and brands that use Amazon DSP to benefit from greater efficiency and higher performance. We’re removing the guesswork to provide advertisers with unprecedented capabilities and delivering performance in ways that simply weren’t possible before. By combining our technologies, advertisers can now drive full-funnel campaign outcomes—from awareness through conversion—while eliminating media waste across Amazon and Roku streaming audiences.”
On Roku’s side, the partnership will allow Roku to continue expanding its home screen experience, deepen partnerships across the CTV ecosystem — including with demand-side and supply-side publishers, as well as channel partners — and to grow its overall revenue, which has become increasingly reliant on advertising and subscriptions.
The partnership with Amazon is non-exclusive: Roku will continue to work with other ad platforms, including The Trade Desk, Yahoo and Google.
“For years, Roku has been committed to delivering performance-driven, open, and interoperable solutions that provide visibility and accountability for advertisers. Our partnership with Amazon strengthens this mission, as Amazon DSP exemplifies these principles,” said Charlie Collier, the President of Roku Media. “This collaboration delivers a unified, future-ready solution at an unprecedented scale, one designed to drive measurable outcomes by unlocking performance across CTV. With nearly half of all TV streaming time in the U.S. happening on Roku, and the power and depth of Amazon in retail and beyond, together we’re uniquely positioned to prove performance and differentiate DSP offerings for our shared advertisers and marketers.”
Roku is the top streaming platform in the U.S., and Amazon has a commanding lead of the international streaming marketplace with its low-cost Fire TV devices.
