Amazon will start putting ads in Prime Video in push to increase revenues

Amazon says it will start showing ads on Prime Video in early 2024, and that it is introducing a new, pricier ad-free option.

In a post on its site, Amazon said it will begin showing ads in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Canada early in the year, and in France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Australia later in 2024.

Amazon Prime Video with ads will cost $14.99 a month, and the ad-free option will cost $17.98 per month in the U.S. It said it will announce prices for the ad-free option in other countries later on.

The company said it aims ‘to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers,’ and that it’s introducing ads so that it can continue investing in content and increasing that investment.

The Seattle-based company also said Prime members will get an email explaining how they can sign up for the ad-free option.

Amazon is following in the footsteps of its streaming video peers as those companies grapple with continued losses and mounting debts in their streaming divisions.

In August, Disney said it would raise the price of Disney+ and Hulu without commercials. Starting Oct. 12, ad-free Disney+ will rise to $13.99 per month from $10.99, and Hulu without ads to $17.99 per month from $14.99.

Disney also announced a $19.99 Disney+ and Hulu bundle.

NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service raised prices in August, as a monthly premium subscription went to $5.99 from $4.99 and the price of its ad-free tier went to $11.99 from $9.99.

Netflix’s standard plan without commercials is $15.49 per month, and the ad-free version of Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max is $15.99 per month.