Beacon Theatre upfront stages Oprah, the Kelces and LeBron under a single Amazon DSP umbrella · Wondery breakup signals shift to a '360-degree franchise' model · Authenticated reach of 90% U.S. households and 300 million monthly ad-supported consumers anchor the pitch

Amazon used its third annual upfront to formalize a strategy years in the making: turning creator-led video podcasts into the next category of premium TV inventory.

The presentation, held at New York's Beacon Theatre on May 11 at 6:30 p.m. ET, had been pre-announced at CES 2026, where Amazon Ads laid out a lineup spanning Prime Video, Prime Sports, Amazon MGM Studios, Twitch, Wondery and Amazon Music, and previewed a pitch built around authenticated reach, first-party signals and AI-powered advertising tools that simplify full-funnel campaigns.

아마존, ‘크리에이터 비디오 팟캐스트=차세대 TV 네트워크’ 베팅 공식화
아마존, 오프라·켈시·르브론 같은 셀럽 IP를 묶은 비디오 팟캐스트·스포츠·영화·트위치·커머스를 하나의 ‘차세대 TV 네트워크’로 육성. 이를 성과 기반 측정 인프라(DSP·리테일 데이터·아이덴티티 그래프)를 통해 TV 광고 예산을 흡수하려는 전략 공식화
K-EnterTech HubJung Han

The Beacon Theatre stage delivered on that preview, with Oprah Winfrey, Ice Spice, Shaboozey, NFL MVP Matthew Stafford, Chris Pratt, Michael B. Jordan and Arnold Schwarzenegger lining up alongside DJ Diplo and country singer Kacey Musgraves to frame video podcasts not as podcast-industry collateral but as full-funnel ad assets traded alongside Thursday Night Football and Prime Video originals.