To ensure the long-term viability of its Prime Video streaming service, Amazon plans to add adverts to the service. Users in the United States will be the first affected by this change when it begins to progressively roll out in early 2024. Later that year, users in the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, France, Mexico, Italy, Spain, and Australia will also be affected. Users have been promised by Amazon that these commercials will be less invasive and less frequent than those on regular television.
Amazon will launch a premium Prime Video tier for an extra $2.99 per month on top of the regular Prime Membership fee, which is $14.99 per month in the US, to give ad-free content. Importantly, Amazon has said that the delivery advantages and other perks of Amazon Prime Membership will not be impacted by this new strategy.
India has interestingly been left off of the initial list of countries where Prime Video advertisements will be added, however Amazon has not completely ruled out the potential of this happening in the future. Indian Prime Video subscribers can still access ad-free content for the time being.
With Netflix, Sony LIV, and Disney+Hotstar already integrating advertisements into their paid memberships, this decision by Amazon is in line with the industry trend of streaming services seeking new revenue streams to support their platforms. Currently, a year of Amazon Prime membership costs Rs 1499 in India, with monthly and quarterly subscriptions costing Rs 299 and Rs 599, respectively.
