Amazon Prime Video is supposedly receiving a new subscription tier that includes advertisements within its streaming content. It will join Netflix and Disney Plus, which have recently introduced ad-supported subscription offers, in return for a cheaper monthly cost.
The Wall Street Journal reports that early talks to introduce this new tier have been taking place for several weeks now, with advertisers already taking an interest in integrating their content into Amazon Prime's video library.
Amazon is apparently considering multiple options for integrating the advertisements into its service, including increasing the frequency of ads for existing customers, as well as a new, cheaper ad-supported subscription tier; an increasingly common occurrence with streaming services of late.
This could be a big deal in the UK, as currently you can only get access to the Prime Video service via a full Amazon Prime subscription; unless you want to rent or purchase individual content. In the US, however, you can access Prime Video with either a full Amazon Prime subscription ($15/month) or with a separate Prime Video subscription ($9/month).
Amazon already runs an ad-supported streaming service with FreeVee that features regular advertisement breaks. However, it doesn't include the first-party content that draws big crowds, such as The Boys, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. Integrating ads into its mainline service that includes programming will likely attract advertisers and audiences alike, assuming that the price is right of course.
Only time will tell if this new subscription tier will end up as Amazon's preferred option; however, it's certainly a sign of the current state of streaming, as more services seem to be opting for this method to draw in new subscribers and retain current customers alike.
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