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Ads are coming to Prime Video because Amazon clearly needs the cash
- Amazon has announced that advertisements are coming to Prime Video.
- Ads will come to several countries from early next year.
- US subscribers can pay an extra $2.99 a month for an ad-free Prime Video plan.
We’ve seen a raft of streaming services implement ad-supported tiers on their platforms in the last couple of years. Now, Amazon has revealed that it will offer ads in Prime Video as well.
The company announced the move on its website, confirming that “limited advertisements” will come to Prime Video movies and TV shows from early 2024. Amazon cited the need for ads in order to “continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time.” Of course, Amazon has a market cap of over $1.3 trillion.
“We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers,” Amazon claimed, although we’ll have to wait until next year to see whether that claim holds water.
Ads will come to Prime Video users in Canada, Germany, the UK, and the US first. This will be followed by users in Australia, France, Italy, Mexico, and Spain later in 2024.
What do you think of Prime Video's ad-supported tier?
Amazon also sought to spin the announcement by saying there wouldn’t be any price increases in 2024. But the firm added that it would be offering an ad-free tier in the US for an extra $2.99 a month. This tier will also be available in other countries, with pricing to follow.
Either way, Amazon is joining a raft of streaming platforms that now offer an ad-supported paid tier. This includes Netflix, Max, and Disney Plus.