In this episode of Next in Media, Mike Shields sits down with Alan Moss, VP of Global Advertising Sales at Amazon Ads, to talk about Amazon's rapid transformation into a full-funnel advertising powerhouse. Alan walks through how he joined Amazon mid-COVID in 2020 and within a few years helped land an 11-year NFL deal, launch Prime Video ads, and close an NBA partnership that made Prime Video a year-round sports network.

He and Mike dig into what's working in the upfront market, why Amazon sees retail media and streaming as one unified full-funnel business, and how Amazon DSP's partnerships with Netflix, Disney, Roku, and others now reach 90% of household audiences. They also get into the growing role of Twitch and creators as a mid-funnel marketing lever, and why Alan believes the future is AI agents — not just for creative optimization, but for full campaign orchestration.

Key Highlights

🏈 From COVID Hire to Year-Round Sports Network: Alan joined Amazon in July 2020 and within months helped land an 11-year NFL deal, followed by Prime Video ads and the NBA — turning Amazon into a full-year live sports destination.

📺 Prime Video as the Biggest Ad-Supported Streamer: Flipping the switch in January 2024 made Amazon the largest premium ad-supported streaming platform overnight, though the team had to scramble for scatter dollars outside the upfront window.

🚀 Amazon Is Democratizing Live Sports Advertising: Amazon brought 80 net-new advertisers to the NFL and 30 to the NBA in year one — opening up inventory that was previously an exclusive club.

🔗 Retail Media and Streaming Are the Same Business: Alan pushes back on treating Amazon's retail and streaming sides as separate, arguing the real value is a single full-funnel offering from brand awareness to measurable outcomes.

📡 The Amazon DSP Reaches 90% of Households: Partnerships with Netflix, Disney, Roku, Spotify, and SiriusXM extend Amazon's authenticated graph well beyond its own properties.

🎮 Creators Are a New Mid-Funnel Marketing Lever: Twitch's 105 million monthly viewers are increasingly bundled with Prime Video and sports buys rather than treated as a standalone offering.

🤖 AI Agents Are the Big Upfront Story: Alan predicts that the integration of premium content with AI-driven ad tech — from creative adaptation to chat-based campaign execution — will define this upfront season.

📈 The Upfront Market Is Showing Positive Signals: Despite macro headwinds, Alan says agency conversations reflect focus rather than anxiety, with demand clustering around scarce inventory like live sports and custom sponsorships.

Resources & Next Steps

🔗 Alan Moss on LinkedIn

🌐 Learn more about Amazon Ads

🎧 Subscribe to Next in Media on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

Chapter Timestamps

00:00 Cold open
00:43 Introducing Alan Moss, Amazon's VP of Global Ad Sales
01:48 From Thursday Night Football to Prime Video ads — the rapid expansion
04:48 The NBA deal and becoming a year-round sports network
06:58 Bridging retail media and streaming — why Amazon sees it as one business
08:30 The upfront marketplace: positive signals despite macro uncertainty
10:05 Sponsor break: Why the household graph is a differentiator
11:28 Why premium content + AI-driven ad tech is this year's big story
13:30 Prime Video Signature sponsorships and brand partnerships
14:20 Amazon DSP and partnerships with Netflix, Disney, Roku, Spotify, SiriusXM
15:35 Twitch update: 105M viewers, creators as a mid-funnel marketing lever
17:58 How durable AI agents make marketing dollars work harder
20:19 Wrap up

Amazon Ads Chief Alan Moss on Connecting Live Sports, Streaming, and Retail

Next in Media

Amazon Ads Chief Alan Moss on Connecting Live Sports, Streaming, and Retail