Is It Worth Paying Amazon Prime Video An Extra $3 To Avoid Ads‽
Yes, Amazon emailed their loyal paying customers to inform all of us that our bill was going up.
Dear Prime member,
We are writing to you today about an upcoming change to your Prime Video experience. Starting January 29, Prime Video movies and TV shows will include limited advertisements. This will 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. No action is required from you, and there is no change to the current price of your Primemembership. We will also offer a new ad-free option for an additional $2.99 per month* that you can sign up for here. [note: link removed]
If you pay annually for Amazon Prime & Prime Video was more or less a perk of 2-day shipping, then paying the extra $3 a month is not a huge issue.
However, if you were paying for Prime Video separately or paying monthly for Amazon Prime delivery, you are probably better off enduring the infrequent annoyance of ads interrupting your entertainment experience.
I will be paying the extra $3 per month to avoid seeing ads, as I find ads disruptive when watching movies or shows. I do wish Amazon offered an annual plan (I pay annually for Amazon Prime).
As far as why Amazon is increasing their prices, I believe @daringfireball@mastodon.social sums it up best:
“Meaningfully fewer ads” than Apple TV+ or Max is not possible, because they have no ads. Netflix has a lower-priced “with ads” tier, but Prime Video is no peer to Netflix. This is a rinky-dink move that solidifies Prime Video's status as a second-rate streaming service. Maybe if they hadn't blown $250 million on Citadel and nearly $500 million on Rings of Power — both of which shows were absolutely terrible — they wouldn't be in this position. (Via Daring Firefall)
**Note: ** Although Apple TV does not have ads, Max (formally HBO) does have ads on their lowest tier.
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