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Amazon announced in September that ads were on the way for Prime Video entertainment content. Now we have an appointment.
On January 29, commercials will be introduced for series and movies broadcast on the service in the US, UK, Germany and Canada. France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Australia will follow later in the year.
The move was announced in a letter sent to subscribers describing the addition of so-called “limited advertising” to allow the service “to continue to invest in compelling content and to continue to increase that investment over an extended period of time.”
Among the warnings:
- There will be no ads on purchased or rented content.
- Customers in Guam, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Mariana Islands will not be able to see ads displayed.
After sparking dismay from streamers, the dual opt-in advertising model — and the dual revenue stream that comes with it — has become the norm. With Amazon Prime adopting ads across its entire content lineup on the heels of Netflix and Disney+ introducing ad tiers, Apple TV+ remains the only major streaming platform using a pure subscription model.
This represents the next step in Amazon's advertising ambitions. The company has spent the past several years waging a major advertising offensive, through both live sports as well as its ad-supported sister Prime Video platforms like Freevee and Twitch. While the $38 billion Amazon took in from advertising last year represents a small share of its total annual revenue of $502 billion, it is growing at a quarterly rate of more than 20%.
The text of the message is below.
Today we're writing about the upcoming change to your Prime Video experience. Starting January 29, Prime Video movies and shows will include limited advertising. This will allow us to continue investing in engaging content and continue to grow that investment over a long period of time. We aim to have significantly less advertising than linear TV and other streaming TV providers. There is no action required from you, and there is no change to the current price of your Prime membership.
We'll also be offering a new ad-free option for an extra $2.99 per month* that you can sign up for here. Prime Video customers have the option to pre-sign up for the ad-free monthly option, but they won't be charged until January 29.
