One Eye on the Screen, the Other on the Cart: How Amazon Turned Prime Video Into a Sales Machine

Amazon has turned Prime Video from a subscription bonus into a broad commercial machine, combining entertainment, sports broadcasting and advertising. The company recorded $22.4 billion in content-related charges for video and music in 2025, but does not publish Prime Video’s revenue or operating profit separately.

The service began on Sept. 7, 2006, when watching an Amazon film required patience and a Windows PC. For $3.99, customers downloaded films through Unbox, a service that promised “DVD quality” at a time when 4K was still far in the future. Amazon also offered the final episodes of CSI, CSI: Miami and CSI: New York for one cent.

At that stage, the former online bookseller was mainly trying to move its DVD business into digital form. A major shift came on Feb. 22, 2011, when Amazon added more than 5,000 films and television episodes to its platform at no extra cost.

Video was initially an accessory to Prime, which cost $79 a year and offered fast, free delivery. Its main purpose was to make the membership more attractive. Over time, however, the bonus became a powerful tool for keeping customers within Amazon’s ecosystem. The article presents that evolution as the transformation of a modest loyalty perk into a prize-winning studio, an important sports outlet and a formidable advertising platform.