January 2021 marks an unwelcome new trend for Amazon Prime Viewership as Amazon imposes an additional charge of $2.99 per-month to viewers. Prime Viewers have been accustomed to no commercials, included in their $119/year subscription fee since 2016. The new charge will ensure viewers can indulge in their streaming without unsolicited ads interrupting their experience.
The new fee, which has been presented as an “opt-out,” is setting a precedent for the on-demand streaming services industry. Pay-per-view channels like HBO and Showtime have been offering free ad-supported tiers for many years. However, this shift by Amazon towards incorporating advertisement-free content for an added fee is a first for the on-demand streaming services collective.
The fee is mainly targeting those involved in discounts or family plans of Amazon Prime, as many of these plans employ advertisement support in exchange for a cheaper deal. Put into perspective, if Amazon’s Prime Video viewers opt in to the $2.99 per-month ads-free tier, the accumulated customer costs is the same as a full Prime subscription.
It’s clear that this change by Amazon signals a new trend for the industry. To the Prime viewers’ advantage, Amazon plans to begin streaming free ad-supported content earlier than initially planned, in 2021. However, whether or not this new policy will bring beneficial changes for the streaming industry, or an additional burden of financial investment to customers, can only be seen with time.
