December 28, 2023, 8:59 am | Read time: 4 minutes
Amazon Prime Video’s streaming service is included in the regular Prime subscription from the online giant. However, Amazon now plans to overhaul the existing model. In the future, anyone who doesn’t want to see ads will have to pay an additional fee.
Amazon already offers a free ad-supported subscription with Freevee. Nevertheless, Prime Video users still see occasional ads at the start of movies or series. These can be skipped, and they are mostly ads for Amazon’s own products. However, you cannot completely disable these ads. The company announced in the summer that the amount of advertising could increase. This “could” has now become a “will.” Those who don’t want this will have to pay extra. TECHBOOK explains the details.
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Overview
What changes at Amazon Prime Video in 2024
The cost of using Amazon Prime Video in Germany is included in the retailer’s Prime subscription, which is currently available for 89 euros per year. In the U.S., for example, the service can also be booked separately. The cost for this is $8.99 per month. In both models, the streaming service offers access to numerous movies and series, as well as various original productions and documentaries. If desired, additional movies or channels can be booked, but this requires extra payment.
That’s the current status quo. However, Amazon has completely revamped the structure of its existing streaming subscription within Prime. Starting January 29, 2024, the online retailer plans to show significantly more ads on Prime Video. This deadline initially applies in the U.S., but the new model will start in Germany just a week later. The intention behind this is to partially finance through advertising so that the costs for subscribers do not change. Or at least: do not have to change.
Also of interest: Amazon Music Unlimited is also getting more expensive for Prime customers
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These costs await customers
Starting February 5, an additional ad-free but correspondingly more expensive subscription will also begin. Those who do not want to see ads on Amazon Prime Video will have to pay an additional 2.99 euros. The only exception is live offerings, especially in sports. This effectively presents a price increase by Amazon. The annual subscription costs for ad-free streaming will rise from 89.90 euros to 125.78 euros. Monthly, Amazon Prime Video would thus cost 11.98 euros.
Whether the term “ad-free,” for which customers will then pay extra, truly means ad-free is still unclear. After all, Amazon has been showing ads for its own originals and documentaries since 2016. The additional advertising in the existing subscription will initially be introduced in its key markets, according to an Amazon press release. These include Germany, the UK, Canada, and the U.S. Customers there will have to expect that their streaming content will “contain ads to a limited extent.” The exact extent is not yet known. However, it will be less than in linear TV programming or with other providers that already run ads.
Why streaming services show ads
Whether it’s production costs or licenses, streaming providers usually have to invest money to offer the most attractive service possible. To still operate profitably, advertising is a good source of income that more and more services are discovering. Providers like Netflix and RTL+ already offer ad-supported subscriptions, and for Amazon, it’s the aforementioned video-on-demand platform Freevee.
In light of the upcoming changes, customers will receive an email with all necessary information and the option to switch to the more expensive subscription a few weeks in advance.
In Germany, competitor Netflix’s ad-supported basic subscription has met with little enthusiasm, as our TECHBOOK survey revealed. Amazon users also expressed little enthusiasm for the current change in a survey.