San Francisco: Amazon Prime Video will show ads during movies and TV shows starting January 29, as it aims to expand its advertising business and increase revenue from entertainment.
Prime Video subscribers will have the option to pay an additional $2.99 per month to avoid limited commercials. The company said the move will allow it to “continue investing in engaging content and grow that investment over the long term.”
In an email sent to customers, Amazon said the company aims to have “meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers.” “No action is required on your part, and there is no change to the current price of your Prime membership,” the company wrote in an email.
Amazon Prime currently costs $14.99 per month or $139 annually. Prime Video can be subscribed to individually for $8.99 per month.
“We will also introduce a new ad-free option for an additional $2.99 per month,” the company said. The new fee for ad-free streaming will drop the price of Prime to just under $18, and the price of standalone Prime Video to under $12, The Verge reports.
The move comes as rival streaming services are raising subscription rates and pushing out ads. Disney Plus, Hulu, Max, Netflix, and Paramount Plus all include ads at their most affordable tiers. Amazon spent more than $7 billion last year on Amazon Originals, live sports programming and licensed third-party video content offered as part of Prime.
