Amazon and Fox encroach on each other’s territories

Tech giant Amazon is buying up National Football League (NFL) rights to games that had been expected to go to Fox. At the same time Tubi, the Fox-owned streaming service, is planning “data-driven original programming” that will pit it against Amazon Prime.

Why it matters

Amazon buying broadcasting rights and Fox using its customers’ preferences to power a slate of original content highlights how media companies are increasingly undifferentiated. The would-be disruptors come to resemble the old guard and vice versa.

The details

• Amazon will take over the exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football in the US from 2023, when the terms of the deal will let it exclusively air 15 games a season on Amazon Prime. It marks a further push by the tech giant for primary rights to America’s most popular sport.
• Fox’s ad-supported streaming service, Tubi, is to begin original programming content across a number of genres this autumn.
• Data analysis will be at the heart of the push into original programming, says Fox. Tubi original documentaries will offer content on areas such as crime, the UK’s royal family, the paranormal and others, tailored to an individual’s personal viewing habits.

Interesting stat

Some 68% of viewers say Tubi is the only ad-supported service they watch; 39% describe themselves as multicultural.

Sourced from Hollywood Reporter, Deadline