Amazon is set to introduce adverts to its Prime Video streaming service from 5 February 2024.
Customers in the UK and Germany will see “limited” ads unless they pay £2.99 per month to remove them.
Previously, rivals such as Disney+ and Netflix introduced cheaper ad-supported memberships amid price rises. Amazon said the move would “allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time”.
“We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers,” the firm added in an email to customers.
It said even if people pay to remove ads, live content such as sports will continue to include advertising. Customers in the US and Canada will see ads earlier from 29 January, and Amazon plans to expand them to France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Australia later in 2024.
But UK customers may feel they have drawn the short straw with the ad-free price, as customers in Germany will pay €2.99 (£2.60) and those in the US will pay $2.99 (£2.35). An Amazon Prime subscription includes one-day delivery on products as well as access to its streaming service.
It last raised the price of this service in 2022, when its monthly subscription went up £1 to £8.99 and its annual membership rose from £79 to £95. The introduction of ads comes after several announcements from Amazon about future content.
As well as renewals of hit series such as Leverage: Redemption and The Boys, it has also made a deal with Games Workshop to bring Warhammer 40,000 to the big screen – with British actor and professed gamer Henry Cavill heavily involved.
And it is planning other high profile content, such as its much-anticipated series based on the video game Fallout. Disney+ previously expanded its ad-supported service to the UK in August 2023, while Netflix introduced its “basic with ads” streaming plan in 2022.
— CutC by bbc.com
