Prime Video Sets Date for Introduction of Ads; Which Platforms Offer Ad-Free Streaming for Less?
Amazon is choosing to make ad-supported streaming its default tier, and customers will have to pay more per month to go ad-free.
Knowing an unpleasant thing is coming doesn’t always make its arrival easier to bear. Amazon customers have been aware since September that their Prime Video service would be incorporating advertisements for all users sometime in 2024, but now the company has revealed specifically that viewers will start seeing ads on the service in late January.
- Prime Video will begin showing ads on Monday, Jan. 29.
- Users who don’t want to see ads on Prime Video content can pay $2.99 per month more to go ad-free.
- Apple TV+ is the only streaming service that offers ad-free streaming for less.
When Is Prime Video Introducing Ads?
In an email to subscribers, Amazon revealed that users will start seeing ads come to Prime Video content on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024. The email says that the move is being made to “continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time.” Amazon also pledges to show fewer ads than other streamers, as well as linear providers.
The move will affect both Amazon Prime subscribers and those who are only signed up for Prime Video. Those who wish to cut out ads can sign up for ad-free service, but they’ll have to pay an extra $2.99 per month to ditch the commercials.
The balance of the email lists all of the benefits of being a Prime member, including Prime Day deals, use of Amazon Music, and access to Prime Video Channels so users can subscribe to streamers like Max, Paramount+, STARZ and others.
Which Streamers Offer Ad-Free Content for Less than Prime Video?
In the past year, streaming plans without ads have gotten 25% more expensive across the industry. That has left few options available for customers who want to pay less than $11.99 per month to stream without the annoyance of commercials.
At present, only Apple TV+ offers a less expensive plan without ads at $9.99 monthly. However, that platform has one of the smallest streaming libraries in the industry because it focuses mostly on original titles and does not offer a wide variety of licensed titles.
Paramount+ and Peacock both began 2023 at $9.99 per month for ad-free streaming, but each raised its prices during the year, and now each costs $11.99 every month to watch, the same price that Prime Video will soon be charging. Netflix, the world’s largest streamer, discontinued its cheapest ad-free plan ($9.99 per month) for new subscribers in July, in an effort to drive more users to its ad-supported plan.
The fact that prices are rising for ad-free streaming across the board this year won’t alleviate the consternation some Prime Video subscribers are feeling about the company’s plans to shoehorn ads onto its current streaming plan on Jan. 29. But at least they have some clarity about precisely when those ads are coming, and now they have a bit more than a month to decide if they want to upgrade to ad-free for an extra $3 per month, stay subscribed as-is or cancel their service.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Boys,” and more. Subscribers can also add third-party services like Max, Showtime, STARZ, and dozens more with Amazon Prime Video Channels. Prime Video also offers exclusive live access to NFL Thursday Night Football.