Amazon Prime Video to Feature Ads From January 29, With $2.99 Fee to Avoid Them

[MacRumors]

Amazon Prime Video will introduce limited ads to its content starting on January 29, offering an ad-free option for an additional fee.

In an email to subscribers, Amazon confirmed that movies and TV shows on Prime Video will soon feature "limited advertisements" starting on January 29, 2024. The company assured users that Prime Video will have "meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers."

The current price of Amazon Prime subscriptions will not change, but members who prefer to avoid ads can opt for a new ad-free version at an extra cost of $2.99 per month. Amazon's email to subscribers reads:

Dear Prime member,

We are writing to you today about an upcoming change to your Prime Video experience. Starting January 29, Prime Video movies and TV shows will include limited advertisements. This will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time. We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers. No action is required from you, and there is no change to the current price of your Prime membership. We will also offer a new ad-free option for an additional $2.99 per month...

Amazon already operates Freevee, a free, ad-supported streaming service. Competitor streaming services like Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix have also introduced ad-supported options amid rising subscription costs.










Article Link: Amazon Prime Video to Feature Ads From January 29, With $2.99 Fee to Avoid Them

 

[RemedyRabbit]

How long before every streaming service has full ads across all plans?

 

[kwikdeth]

How about a lower monthly cost Prime option with no Prime Video? Their content is mostly sub par.

 

[mozz2020]

That’s not what I signed up and paid a year in advance for.

 

[azentropy]

I haven't received the message yet and I haven't yet seen if this applies (yet) to people who paid a year in advance. Would be really crappy if they add ads to those who already pre-paid. Mine just renewed in November.

 

[RustProof]

I already pay for prime, now you want more money or ads. The shipping the past few months has been so slow! I guess it’s time we part ways again. Stand up and show them we won’t take it anymore by defunding Amazon!

 

[Steve121178]

So it begins. Only a matter of time until we see "limited ads" to begin with in Netflix, YouTube Premium etc etc. Greed knows no bounds.

 

[BradWI]

Anyone else still on the old grandfathered family plan splitt the Prime cost with 5 households? Going to take a lot more to get us to cancel.

 

[Steve121178]

That’s not what I signed up and paid a year in advance for.

It's what you're getting though.

 

[scottishwildcat]

How about a lower monthly cost Prime option with no Prime Video? Their content is mostly sub par.

Doubt they could afford to do that, Prime delivery is a loss leader for their other services.

 

[mdnz]

There's plenty of space left on the wild seas, friends

 

[Apple_Robert]

How long before every streaming service has full ads across all plans?

Very soon.

I wonder if Amazon Video subs are down and Amazon came up with this easy way to look for more money.

I am glad I have taken the time and money to build up my own Plex Server.

 

[oldwatery]

The shipping times are a joke and now this? I just cancelled Netflix……will bin this when my subscription runs out. Scummy move 🤬 the world needs to send these greedy b@$t@rd$ a message…but it won’t😢

 

[jordii]

How long before every streaming service has full ads across all plans?

Not long. At that point, every streaming service will also have a non-ad tier at 1.5-2x the price. And a year later, "minimal" ads will appear on that tier as well.

 

[jimbobb24]

Soft price increase. But for only $3 I get no ads so I can watch Reacher then cancel the $3 the rest of the year. Annoying but I see enough ads on YouTube.

 

[O.N.Y.X]

Greed knows no bounds.

Don’t be so harsh. Mr. Bezos really needs the (extra) money. Those yachts and private jets are not for free…

 

[bookcase]

I'm getting so fed up with where streaming is heading. Higher fees for higher quality video, higher fees for no ads. I'll keep Prime for the shipping (it may be slower these days, but I don't have to meet a minimum -- and it's the #1 place I shop), but I simply won't watch their content if I have to sit through ads. I watched a movie on Freevee and it ruined it. It's why I quit Peacock -- ads are longer than some of their shows. If Netflix wasn't part of my cable package, I'd dump that, too. For every good program, they have about a hundred that will rightly fade away into obscurity.

 

[mattopotamus]

I already pay for prime, now you want more money or ads. The shipping the past few months has been so slow! I guess it’s time we part ways again. Stand up and show them we won’t take it anymore by defunding Amazon!

They should get push back for this decision and anyone that has already paid for the following year should be grandfathered in. What a crock.

 

[TheLunaPark]

I'm getting so fed up with where streaming is heading. Higher fees for higher quality video, higher fees for no ads. .I'll keep Prime for the shipping (it may be slower these days, but I don't have to meet a minimum -- and it's the #1 place I shop), but I simply won't watch their content if I have to sit through ads. I watched a movie on Freevee and it ruined it. It's why I quit Peacock -- ads are longer than some of their shows. If Netflix wasn't part of my cable package, I'd dump that, too. For ever good program, they have about a hundred that will rightly fade away into obscurity.

Yup and unless people vote with their feet, the greed of these companies and their shareholders will march on relentlessly.

 

[goobot]

I’m all for free tiers with ads but this pay model with ads is becoming too much

 

[elvisimprsntr]

Plenty of alternative FAST services.

 

[Skyscraperfan]

Sounds like a ransom to me: We will annoy you with ads, but you can pay a "tiny" fee to avoid that.

 

[3304614]

Here is the thing though: Very few of you commenting actually watch Amazon Prime Video anyway (because it’s terrible). So ads or no ads… you won’t notice. 😂

 

[bobcomer]

There's plenty of space left on the wild seas, friends

I wont pirate.

 

[bobcomer]

Here is the thing though: Very few of you commenting actually watch Amazon Prime anyway (because it’s terrible). So ads or no ads… you won’t notice. 😂

That's a good point. I don't get prime because of video anyway.