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Bad news for users of Amazon Prime Video: Amazon recently officially confirmed that there will be ads in movies and series for subscribers starting in 2024. The move follows a trend among streaming services looking for additional revenue streams to cover growing costs in the industry. The company’s argument for the introduction is that subscription revenue is often insufficient to fund the production and licensing of high-quality content. Postscript: if you still don’t want advertising, you’ll have to pay more.
Advertise or pay three dollars more per month.
The company announced that advertising will launch early next year. Interestingly, Amazon Prime Video is one of the last major streaming platforms to make this change. While services like Netflix and Disney already offer ad-supported options in many countries as an alternative to their more expensive ad-free plans, only Apple TV+ remains one of the few significant platforms that doesn’t currently have an ad-supported program.
Amazon Prime Video is part of the Amazon Prime subscription plan, which currently costs $14.99 per month or $139 per year in the U.S. As a standalone streaming service, Prime Video costs $9 per month. For an ad-free experience, Prime members in the U.S. must pay an additional three dollars per month.
While the changes to the subscription model will be rolled out in the U.S. first, Amazon will also roll out the ad-supported service in other countries and major markets, such as the U.K., Germany and Canada, in early 2024. Other countries, including France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Australia, are expected to follow later this year.
Amazon Prime Video with advertising in the future
Costs for the “ad-free” version in Europe are still open
For the German-speaking region, Amazon emphasized in its official statement that the goal is to keep the current price for Prime membership stable despite these changes. The Prime subscription costs 8.99 euros per month or 89.90 euros per year. Of course, there are also plans to offer an additional option in our latitudes called “ad-free,” but the price and other details will be announced at a later date, the company said.
In the announcement about the ad-supported subscription, Amazon also never tires of emphasizing that it has invested significantly and added numerous “attractions” to its offering, including current hit movies, popular series, exclusive Amazon Originals and live sports broadcasts. He went on to say that the numerous nominations for Amazon Originals at illustrious awards such as the Primetime Emmy Award and the German Television Award demonstrate the program’s popularity. Original content such as “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” or “Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power,” in which Amazon intends to continue to invest to set itself apart from the competition.
The decision to add advertising to Prime Video doesn’t just reflect a general trend among streaming platforms to pass on additional costs to customers. Amazon seems to be mainly focused on advertising as a source of revenue. The company has made significant strides in advertising in recent years, mainly through its powerful search ad platform. With the new change to Prime Video, Amazon is expected to continue strengthening its position in the digital advertising market.
- source: derstandard.at/picture: gamestar.de
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