Prime Video to Introduce Advertisements

notdealbot on 21/05/2024 - 11:51
Last edited 06/07/2024 - 10:20 by 1 other user

An update on Prime Video
 

Dear Prime member,

We are writing to you today about an upcoming change to your Prime Video experience. Starting July 2, 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 Prime membership. We will also offer a new ad free option for an additional A$2.99 per month* that you can sign up for here.

There will be no other changes to your Prime membership. Prime members will continue to enjoy a wide range of shopping, savings, and entertainment benefits, including:

• Free delivery on more than one million items in as fast as one day and free international expedited delivery from Amazon Global Store with no minimum spend when you shop from Amazon.com.au.
• Access to exclusive and broad streaming video content including Prime Video Originals Fallout, The Boys, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Summer I Turned Pretty and the Australian Originals The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Deadloch, as well as movies such as Road House and The Idea of You and exclusive live sports including The ICC World Cup Cricket.
• Exclusive deals and shopping events like Prime Day and Prime Big Deal Days.

As mentioned above, no action is required from you. And, as always, if you have questions about your Prime membership, you can manage your account here.

Thank you for being a valued member of Amazon Prime.

Sincerely,
The Amazon Prime team

*Select Prime Video Channels and live events, such as sport, will continue to include advertising.

Entertainment Amazon Video on Demand

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Comments

  • freefall101 on 21/05/2024 - 11:56
    +17

    Well, it was only a matter of time. It's nice that there's a choice rather than increasing the cost of Prime itself.

    Hopefully it's easy to turn on/off the ad extra costs. Will probably pay $3 while binging stuff then cancel it again.

    • Sammy2000 on 21/05/2024 - 15:58
      +2

      If it is an option, I will be turning it on and off when they have shows I want to binge.

      • ddilrat on 23/05/2024 - 03:35

        Have had it in the US for a while. Only seem to get ads when opening a new show and none during the episode. Also dont seem to get any ads when finishing an episode and moving to the next.

        So don't think it's necessary to get for binge watching

    • KangaDrew on 22/05/2024 - 12:00
      +13

      That's an extra $36 a year, and considering Prime was literally just bumped up in price, upping Prime by another $36/year would result in a meltdown This is nothing more than a streaming cash grab.

  • jv on 21/05/2024 - 11:58
    +7

    😭

  • FezMonkey on 21/05/2024 - 12:02
    +3

    Beat me to it.

    Prime is probably the best value streaming service anyway, right?

    • geekcohen on 21/05/2024 - 12:03
      +8

      Prime is probably the best value streaming service anyway, right?

      Yes. Compared to what I saw of Netflix last night approaching something like $28 a month!

      Plus with Prime you get free (subject to T&Cs) shipping on Amazon orders.

      • alebox on 06/07/2024 - 16:57

        One of the biggest weaknesses of Netflix compared to Prime, Disney+ or Apple TV etc is that their sole revenue stream is via shows. the other companies can subsidise its streaming using their other revenue streams and use it as a land grab opportunity.
        I dont see netflix holding out in the long run

  • Hybroid on 21/05/2024 - 12:02
    +8

    $3 to watch Clarkson Farm well worth it!

    • Nugs on 21/05/2024 - 17:29
      +3

      It's on channel 9, just pop the betamax on record
      .

      • lainey13 on 21/05/2024 - 23:50

        Season 2 on Channel 9, 3 is on Prime

    • drprox on 23/05/2024 - 19:43
      +2

      Totally agree. Fallout was also worth it.

  • AustriaBargain on 21/05/2024 - 12:10
    +8

    I always saw Prime Video as an added benefit to Prime delivery service. Though I started thinking that back when Prime was like $60 a year. I guess with he price rises I need to start thinking of Prime Video as an added justification for Prime.

    • corvusman on 21/05/2024 - 14:06
      +2

      $79 per year currently. Still a pretty good deal.

      • AustriaBargain on 21/05/2024 - 14:09

        For how long I wonder. In the US it is 22.52 AUD a month, or 208.79 AUD a year. Or 13.50 AUD a month just for Prime Video. Prime does have pretty steep discounts in the US though if you are a student or have their equivalent of a healthcare card.

        • corvusman on 21/05/2024 - 14:12
          +1

          I just renewed for another year. If anything changes, happy to ditch the videos and keep their prime delivery options.
          Many things are cheaper there than in Woolies/Coles + saving on petrol.

          • AustriaBargain on 21/05/2024 - 14:16

            @corvusman: Yeah, saves a lot of time and a bit of gas just having it delivered to your door. I probably would pay 200 a year for the current service, without ads. Even if Onepass offers same kind of value, I think it's just habit now to check Amazon first when buying something because they almost always deliver the next day, and returns are easy. If I ever met Bezos I'd probably thank him for bringing the full fat Amazon service to Australia sooner rather than later.

            • bamzero on 21/05/2024 - 18:36

              @AustriaBargain: Well, a little different if you're in WA. If you're lucky you'll get it next day, maybe 2 day. Otherwise it comes from the east and the ETA is 2 or 3 weeks (though usually arrives quicker, unless they sent it via CouriersPlease)

              • AustriaBargain on 21/05/2024 - 18:51

                @bamzero: A few years ago in Adelaide I could order late in the PM and it would arrive the next morning. Must have been some slack in the distribution system or something.

              • mooodeng on 23/05/2024 - 03:46

                @bamzero: Wrong. Prime delivery items for Perth with 2 day delivery come from Melbourne/Sydney. Next time you get a package look at the routing destinations on the label.

        • SBOB on 21/05/2024 - 14:58
          +4

          In the US

          Also comes with a much larger product selection, generally more competitive pricing across a wider range of items, faster shipping.
          Pricing in the US comes with benefits not present in AU amazon

          • AustriaBargain on 21/05/2024 - 15:08

            @SBOB: Yeah, stuff that is common in America, which is a lot of stuff, is very cheap. So cheap that even after high postage costs it still works out cheaper here. If we had all that stuff with free postage then we'd be saving more than $200 a year.

    • Soundwave on 22/05/2024 - 09:26

      Yeah, I barely use Prime Video. I use my Prime membership mainly for free express delivery even from overseas vendors. Also for Prime Gaming where I can gift a sub for free on Twitch but also get free games or free in game content with it.

    • drprox on 23/05/2024 - 19:43

      Yep living in regional Vic it's been a game changer for us.

  • dontboopthesnoot on 21/05/2024 - 12:18
    +34

    what in the Foxtel is this

    • AustriaBargain on 21/05/2024 - 14:11
      +9

      As a kid I never understood how Foxtel/Austar could be like $100 a month, but almost every channel seems to have just as many ads as commercial FTA TV. Guess it makes scheduling easier if most of those shows are about 20 minutes long.

  • jsediv on 21/05/2024 - 12:24
    +14

    Reminded me to cancel my annual subscription. Thanks Amazon

  • team teri on 21/05/2024 - 12:24
    +10

    Oh well, there goes my customer loyalty. Prime Video was the main reason to keep the subscription.

    I hardly shop with them any more, so free shipping isn't a big deal. If anything not having Prime will stop me from spontaneously buying stuff I don't need only because it is cheap. Too many USB cables, chargers, flashlights…

    • Bruceflix on 21/05/2024 - 12:48
      +8

      I think avoiding Ozbargain may stop you from spontaneously buying cheap, unnecessary products more so than Prime.

      • team teri on 21/05/2024 - 12:55
        +12

        Nah, the banter here is better entertainment than any streaming service. :-)

  • Clear on 21/05/2024 - 13:05
    +18

    I can see a lot of people ditching Netflix and other services in favour of piracy due to these increases. Then I expect someone to swoop in with lower prices to school everyone back up and the cycle will repeat.

    • Kelthor85 on 21/05/2024 - 19:45
      +8

      Imo they are begging for it to happen.
      78.04 TiB since 2008.

      There was a point when I thought finally, I'll get cable, but it was full of ads, then one day Netflix.. and the price just kept increasing (along with the… "diversity")

      Now you just treat platforms like channels, each with ads, except you pay for it now. History is doomed to repeat itself.

  • onetwothreefour on 21/05/2024 - 13:06
    +1

    Think I might sign up for foxtel, seems like a better option these days than streaming.

    • geekcohen on 21/05/2024 - 13:12

      Mixed bag. I have Prime and Foxtel. I only use Foxtel at night and weekends, plus for sports. Rarely use it during the day, I stream via Prime.

  • Benoffie on 21/05/2024 - 13:11
    +1

    I only watch it occasionally as a consequence of the delivery service. I'd never pay for it itself.

    Honestly, despite it's rubbish interface, the best value streaming service I've had of late has been Viki.

  • Drakesy on 21/05/2024 - 13:33

    Popcorn Time enters the chat.

    • EightImmortals on 21/05/2024 - 14:06

      Ohh popcorn hour..I 'member!

      • Kelthor85 on 23/05/2024 - 03:46
        +1

        They were so buggy though, and slow compared to the NVIDIA shield. That thing was a game changer.

    • corvusman on 21/05/2024 - 14:07

      Is it still alive?

      • Drakesy on 21/05/2024 - 15:22

        It seems like its back and stronger than ever.

  • westzod on 21/05/2024 - 13:38
    +1

    Kinda funny that some shows/originals now has fade to black scenes/frames clearly for ads lol.

    • AustriaBargain on 21/05/2024 - 14:05

      Amazon have licensed some of their originals to TV stations, so adding natural ad break spots probably helps even if the show is exclusive to Prime Video in the US.

      • Kelthor85 on 23/05/2024 - 03:51
        +1

        Remember the little black dot that would pop up in the top right on a frame in movies shot in film? Then another flash a couple of seconds later before the ads started…

        • cheeksahoy on 23/05/2024 - 20:52

          "Cigarette burns". They signify the end of a film reel, which just so happened to be the perfect place to insert commercials.

  • pharkurnell on 21/05/2024 - 13:40
    +4

    I could never see this coming…. /s

  • isthisreallife22 on 21/05/2024 - 14:39
    +3

    Wow that sucks. I rarely watch Prime but always thinks it's good when I do. Advertisments during a stream is going to be very awkward

    • n3ck3ntry8bort0rgasm on 21/05/2024 - 17:23

      Advertisments during a stream is going to be very awkward

      pretty sure it's only at the beginning of video. and much less than you are expecting.

      same with netflix ad tier, people are worried but you barely get any ads. it's the cheapest tier but they are overcharging for it, because I read somewhere ad tier gives them their most profit. in other words $8 + ad money = more profit than $18 non ad tier.

  • Subere on 21/05/2024 - 15:13
    +11

    Maybe they shouldn't spend 100s of millions of $ on trash like Rings of Power and Wheel of Time.

    • tonka on 22/05/2024 - 13:06

      Wheel of Time got better S2.

      • Subere on 23/05/2024 - 08:13
        +2

        Yeah sorry, as a fan of the books I checked out at episode 6 in Season 1. Too many fundamental changes to the lore for no reason.

        • tonka on 23/05/2024 - 19:26

          Also a fan of the books, but I started reading them 30 years ago and can't remember the details. Too scared I'll lose a year if I try and re-read.

    • Kelthor85 on 23/05/2024 - 03:47
      +1

      It's more important for them to spread "the message" instead of making money.

    • smartazz104 on 23/05/2024 - 10:04

      Nah Bezos can sacrifice some of his billions.

  • OzzyOzbourne on 21/05/2024 - 17:51
    +3

    85% increase in 1 year

  • Payne on 21/05/2024 - 19:03
    +8

    So is this how they're paying for all those cancelled s&s orders and site-wide $1 discounts? 😆

  • BigBirdy on 22/05/2024 - 09:25
    +2

    Dunno why anyone wastes their money on this crap, or Netflix, SBS On Demand is better than them both, albeit with advertising 😞

    • kiitos on 22/05/2024 - 11:35

      Agree that sbs is great, but programmes we want to watch are spread all over the place.

    • THICKnSLOW on 23/05/2024 - 09:11

      SBS On-Demand content is good, but the quality of the stream can vary a lot, and the ad insertions can be hit or miss.

  • Ihhdle on 22/05/2024 - 10:51
    +1

    I use my Telstra rewards to get a “free” annual Prime membership. Don’t know what else to use them on, so Prime is great value for me, even with ads.

    • gviddy on 23/05/2024 - 10:05
      +2

      Nothing is great value if it contains advertising

  • tonka on 22/05/2024 - 13:12
    +4

    No way has streaming been an improvement on previous offering. Was better value buying series in box sets and 20-26 episodes in a season. And not 2-3 years between seasons. Streaming has turned into a trainwreck.

    • koplik8 on 22/05/2024 - 13:32
      +1

      Thats a great point. Totally agree. At least buffering is kept to a minimum these days

      • tonka on 23/05/2024 - 11:30

        I'm a fan of the books, but I read them 30 years ago and can't remember what happened. Too scared I'll binge and lose a year if I try and re-read them.

  • Analytical Therapist on 22/05/2024 - 22:48
    +6

    I cancelled my prime membership within 30 seconds of receiving the email.

    • gviddy on 23/05/2024 - 10:05
      +1

      If it wasn't for the shopping experience then I would have no use for Prime.

  • john676 on 23/05/2024 - 07:36
    +3

    Lol what compelling content? There is never anything new on Prime.

    Amazon makes more than enough revenue through corporate deals, it doesn't need to get greedy.

  • hopper on 23/05/2024 - 08:03
    +1

    Gald i paid for plex pass.

  • Minimum chips on 23/05/2024 - 08:29
    +1

    There's some good shows (mostly originals) here and there, but the rest of their library is B-movie rubbish. The interface is the most obnoxious one to deal with, they had very bad buffering problems (ironic for considering AWS) and their customer support is bad.

    I expect ad revenue to result in no improvement to any of that.

  • THICKnSLOW on 23/05/2024 - 09:13
    +2

    It will be interesting to see how many ads they insert in a movie. Too early to judge just yet.

  • ripesashimi on 23/05/2024 - 09:19
    +1

    Last time I visited Prime Videos, they have like 4 good recognisable free movies.

    Instead of wasting money on making originals and some stupid box office movies, it makes more sense to scrape up the quality smaller titles and classics.

  • Bammers on 23/05/2024 - 11:43

    Have prime just for the shopping side of things. Not sure why but we normally just download all my tv shows from local torrent site its usually after we watch the first episode of something and the amazon intro pops up, we realize could of just streamed it…. nothing changes here.

  • SuperGreen on 23/05/2024 - 11:57

    The only show worth watching is The Boys anyway. Can’t think of anything else that would warrant paying for ad-free.

    • bardlee on 23/05/2024 - 12:32
      +2

      Loved Fallout

    • Jolakot on 23/05/2024 - 13:11
      +2

      Invincible is pretty good too

      • SuperGreen on 23/05/2024 - 13:59

        I loved the first season, not so much the second. I’ve already read through the comics so maybe that’s why I’m not too interested in it anymore. They definitely didn’t do themselves any favours with the mid season break, killed my hype…

    • SpainKing on 23/05/2024 - 13:21
      +1

      Documental was fun, House if you're a streamer, Clarkson's Farm is quality. People like Invincible which is another "superhero but they're naughty and violent and deep" genre show

      Also think I saw Oppenheimer being advertised last I logged in (could be mistaken)

  • syme321 on 23/05/2024 - 15:26

    Any word if there's an annual subscription option? Should be $79 + 8x$3 = $103?

    • syme321 on 23/05/2024 - 15:34
      +3

      FYI customer support said that those on annual plans will be ad free until the renewal date

      • Craze on 25/05/2024 - 22:35

        Good to know- I am on annual sub through Telstra points redemption so hopefully no ads till next May 😁

      • blackdiamond on 13/07/2024 - 21:47

        We’re on annual and still have ads. Are you still ad free? Ours started last week

  • gromit on 23/05/2024 - 15:59

    prime has probably the worst content of any of the streamers and the worst menu and control system. But being free on top of prime delivery made it worth while. Not sure it is worth the extra $3 a month and any ads are likely to make me just not use it anymore. perhaps a binge every 6 months.

  • ozbargainer2021 on 23/05/2024 - 16:09

    Dont sign up and make them hurt.

  • umoddbro on 23/05/2024 - 17:24

    I've had prime for years and never once used prime video… The content on there is so old and most of the stuff you can get from other streaming platforms…

  • SuperMid on 23/05/2024 - 18:58

    Bozos needs the extra $$$

  • cheeksahoy on 23/05/2024 - 20:53

    I paid for 2 years of Prime in advance a while back. So now they're degrading the service I've already paid for? Great.

    • syme321 on 23/05/2024 - 22:39
      +1

      Customer support told me you are ad free until your sub runs out

      • HangryCakeStore on 30/05/2024 - 16:13

        Is it for subs that sign up anytime before July 2? To be ad-free

  • SuperLate on 23/05/2024 - 21:50

    Price increases are irrelevant since Boost mobile CB deals are running.

    • Craze on 30/05/2024 - 23:17
      +1

      Care to elaborate more?

  • SnowDragon on 05/07/2024 - 10:50

    Got my first ads last night. One 20s ad before the show and another 20s ad during a normal break time in the 45 minute show.

    $3/m or $36/year isn't worth it for the limited content they have. I'll just watch the 1-2 shows I was using Prime for on my Plex server.

  • FrugalDealSeeker on 06/07/2024 - 08:35
    Merged from Amazon Prime Video Ads, Any Thoughts?

    Hi guys, I am one of the few people who use(d) Amazon Prime mostly for Prime Video rather than shopping and we purchased an annual subscription for Prime in April or so. That's why it was frustrating to read that they are now introducing limited ads which works out to about 2-3 mins for a 45 min episode.

    I tried customer care, but they were useless and just said suck-up and pay $2.99 pm.

    How is it legal to retroactively change the terms of a contract and degrade its quality? Has anyone had any luck with negotiating with CS?

    TIA

    • snapper17 on 06/07/2024 - 09:00

      It depends whats in the contract. You may have a case for a refund. Personally if I were you i would take advantage of the free shipping. I have saved heaps by having prime. If you use it often then just pay the $3.

      • apsilon on 06/07/2024 - 09:15
        +1

        You don't need a case, Amazon offer prorata refund any time you want, don't even need to speak to anyone.

    • shaybisc on 06/07/2024 - 09:00
      +1

      See clause 83c of the T&Cs.

      • MS Paint on 06/07/2024 - 09:22
        +4

        If you have any issues with contract clauses 1-82 then make a forum post on ozbargain.com.au to obtain an unbiased answer

        • Gunnar on 06/07/2024 - 10:04
          +2

          I thought it was ‘unbiased, binding legal advice’

          • MS Paint on 06/07/2024 - 10:20
            +1

            @Gunnar: To be fair I didn't look it up. I was just going by memory. You are correct. Except it's advise.

            • Gunnar on 06/07/2024 - 11:34

              @MS Paint: Yes, your correct, thank you for you’re advise

    • Lucille Bluth on 06/07/2024 - 09:06

      Use the existing thread https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/846863

    • AngoraFish on 06/07/2024 - 09:07
      -1

      Basic Amazon Prime in Australia costs literally half what it does in the US for essentially the same benefits. Given the free shipping, video streaming and gaming benefits I think we're getting a pretty good deal.

      Also, in before merged thread. :-)

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