Amazon has started informing Prime Video subscribers that they will have to pay a surcharge if they don't want their viewing experience to be interrupted by ads. In an email the company sent to customers, it said it would run “limited advertising” for its service's films and series starting January 29. Those who want to keep their account ad-free will have to pay an additional fee of $3 per month on top of their Prime subscription or individual membership to Prime Video for $9 per month.
The company announced back in September that it would be advertising its content – and that the first regions affected would be the US, UK, Germany and Canada. Customers in France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Australia have until the end of next year to decide whether they want to endure the ads or pay a premium. Amazon mentioned at the time that it aimed to have “significantly less advertising than linear TV and other streaming TV providers.” While “sensibly less” is pretty vague, Variety said at the time that four minutes per hour appeared to be the lowest ad time for a streaming platform.
Amazon reiterated this goal in the email to subscribers. The company also stated that introducing advertising to its service and charging more for an ad-free viewing experience would help “invest in compelling content and continue to grow that investment over a long period of time.” The company told subscribers that they would automatically see ads starting in late January and linked them to a website where they could pay to watch ad-free. On an information page about the change, Amazon clarified that it will not show ads with rented or purchased content. It also said that Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Mariana Islands and American Samoa were excluded from the rollout for now.
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