Prime Video is joining the ranks of other streaming giants who have introduced ad tiers to their platforms. According to an article posted by Amazon on September 22nd, Prime Video shows and movies begin showing ads in 2024.
Whether you’re a Prime Video subscriber, a marketer, or both, we’re here to break down what this change will mean for you. Read on to learn what Prime Video is, and how this update will impact advertisers and viewers.
In case you’re not familiar with this service, we’ll catch you up to speed. Prime Video is essentially a content library of movies and shows that subscribers can stream for free. (Think Hulu, Max, Netflix, and other streaming services). Prime Video hosts a wide variety of content, including Prime-exclusive media created in-house.
Users can sign up for Prime Video on its own, but Amazon Prime members get access to Prime Video and a myriad of other perks, including faster delivery of Amazon products and access to exclusive Prime Day deals.
If you live in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, or Germany, you can expect to start seeing ads while you stream in early 2024. Other countries, including France, Italy, and Mexico, will begin seeing ads later in the year. Prime members in these countries won’t need to make any changes; this update will be automatically implemented.
At least in 2024, Prime claims that it won’t be changing the price of a Prime membership. However, Amazon will be offering a new, “ad-free” tier at an additional cost. (This will exclude live event content, which will continue to include advertising). Before this new change is implemented, Prime members will receive an email from Amazon inviting them to upgrade to the ad-free option.
Note that, while Amazon says that it aims to “have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers,” we don’t have any more details on how many ads viewers can expect to see while they watch content with Prime Video.
With more ads on the platform, there will be more opportunities to advertise with Amazon. While we don’t yet have specifics on what this new advertising tier will look like, we can anticipate a similar model to Disney Plus or Netflix’s ad-supported tiers, which also launched recently.
Prime Video has tens of millions of monthly subscribers. If you’re a company that wants lots of eyes on your brand or product, this new avenue for advertising might be for you. At the very least, it’s worth keeping this platform in mind as you plan your advertising strategy for 2024.
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