Introducing Ads in Service from Next Year
Ad-Free Plan Costs an Additional $2.99
As global online video service (OTT) platforms have been raising their monthly subscription fees one after another, Amazon has also joined the price hike trend by introducing an ad-supported plan for Prime Video.
Amazon's price increase news was revealed on the 22nd of last month (local time) when it hinted at the introduction of a new ad-free plan, stating that "ads will be shown on Prime Video." Amazon explained the reason for the price hike as "to continue investing in high-quality content and to increase long-term investments starting next year." However, Amazon added that even with ads, "there will be fewer ads compared to broadcast networks or other competitors."
The ad-supported plan is priced at $14.99 (20,034 KRW), the same level as the existing plan. If users want to use the ad-free plan, they must pay an additional $2.99 per month, effectively resulting in a price increase. Currently, the monthly subscription fee for Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. is $14.99, but next year, those who want to use the ad-free plan will have to pay $17.98.
This policy will start early next year in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, and Canada, and will be introduced in France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and other countries in the second half of next year.
Amazon Prime Video's introduction of an ad-supported plan comes amid recent price hikes by streaming service platforms such as Netflix due to poor performance. The OTT industry initially offered ad-free services to attract customers but has recently started raising prices by introducing ad-supported plans.
Disney+ will raise the price of its ad-free plan from $10.99 to $13.99 per month starting next month on the 12th, and Hulu will increase its price from $14.99 to $17.99.
In Disney's case, this decision appears to have been made after streaming services posted a loss of $512 million in the second quarter, with second-quarter revenue increasing by only 2.7% compared to a year ago.
Netflix eliminated its cheapest basic plan without ads in July. New subscribers who do not want ads must subscribe to a plan costing at least $15.49 per month.
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