How Amazon Prime Video’s embrace of game shows could present more streaming ad opportunities

Game shows have long been a staple of broadcast and cable TV, gaining even more linear real estate as scripted entertainment moves to streaming. But original game show programming hasn’t seemed to have found its place in the streaming ecosystem outside of reruns on FAST channels devoted to popular franchises such as “Deal or No Deal” or “Family Feud.” In the world of binge viewing, game shows could present brands an opportunity to align with long-term, regularly recurring content. As live sports have become more important for advertisers seeking broad, engaged audiences, game shows might follow a similar path in streaming. This could be especially valuable for performance marketers entering the TV ecosystem for the first time, said Jamie Berger, SVP of Marketing at mobile game company Scopely. Ad Age Tech Power List 2025 We’re looking for top digital innovators from agencies, brands, platforms, ad tech companies and tech startups Enter here “These are the types of shows that are going to encourage continuous viewership,” said Berger. “[Viewers] are actively thinking and actively watching a game show—it’s not a passive experience. … Because the viewer is hyper-engaged in the experience of the ‘Jeopardy’ questions, that translates into watching our ads.” Scopely’s Monopoly Go is a sponsor of Prime Video’s game show “Pop Culture Jeopardy!” The spin-off of the linear TV mainstay, currently in its 41st season, premiered Dec. 4 on Prime Video, with 40 episodes releasing weekly. While streaming reality and competition series such as Netflix’s “Love is Blind” and Peacock’s “The Traitors” have topped streaming viewership charts, traditional format game shows haven’t seen their linear success transfer to streaming. “As our live sports offering continues growing, game shows allow us to [engage] customers with content that’s aligned with their pre- and post-game viewing habits,” said Lauren Anderson, head of brand and content innovation, Amazon MGM Studios. “Game shows also give us another opportunity to lean into IP—a strategy to which customers consistently respond across scripted TV and film and now a genre they’re able to enjoy in unscripted as well.” Also read: The 5 biggest ad tech stories of 2024 Prime Video is betting on game shows with a block of them on Wednesdays, including “Winning Wednesdays,” that features “Pop Culture Jeopardy!” and “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?” alongside shopping-oriented series “Buy It Now” and “Wish List Games.” The move comes as streamers struggle to balance programming slates that will maintain subscribers within the fragmented TV ecosystem, particularly after the initial draw of streaming—high-budget, ad-free content—proved unsustainable. The transition of live sports to streaming has been a major push in replicating the audience scale that remains unique to broadcast TV . “Game shows’ ability to entertain multiple customer, family and audience demographics simultaneously certainly make them an effective vehicle for aligned brand messaging,” said Anderson. “There is also an ability to seamlessly and organically integrate brands into or develop custom content with and around game show titles. When intentionally built for that purpose, game shows can allow for a natural handoff between the content customers want to watch and the products they want to buy.” Monopoly Go's sponsorship for “Pop Culture Jeopardy!” grants it a guaranteed percentage of share of voice for the series, although Berger declined to specify the amount. The mobile gaming brand has two creative variants that it rotates in the show from its global “Friendship Pays” campaign, and also sponsored Prime Video’s “Cruel Intentions” series, targeting Millennials and friend co-viewing. Media for Monopoly Go’s campaign was handled by Los Angeles-based agency MBMG. The campaign, which has also run on TV and streaming, including “Monday Night Football,” various holiday specials and on Netflix and Disney+, is part of an effort to test the Scopely brand’s media mix, said Berger. Previously, the brand ran ads in digital channels, primarily Google, Meta and TikTok, with occasional supplemental buys in streaming as needed, said Berger. The campaign launched Nov. 18 and runs through mid-January. Expanding Monopoly Go’s latest campaign with larger buys across TV and streaming are part of an effort to inspire account reactivation from lapsed players who have perhaps gotten used to scrolling past or skipping the brand’s ads in its usual channels. Berger said it also identified TV and streaming content based on those likely to be co-viewed among friends and family during the holidays. While the campaign is still active, Berger said Monopoly Go has already seen a significant increase in return players as well as player referrals for friends to join. Rather than choosing specific sports match-ups, Berger also said the sponsorship was appealing as a performance-oriented marketer for the ability to accompany viewers throughout the series over time. Similarly, Berger said Monopoly Go is not running ads across Prime Video outside of the two series because it is more meaningful for the brand to “go deep on two shows” than to persist across a platform.

How Amazon Prime Video’s embrace of game shows could present more streaming ad opportunities

Featured Stories