Shawn Knigh

Posts: 15,459   +193
Staff member
Why it matters: Amazon followed through on its promise to introduce ads to television shows and movies earlier this year, infusing Prime Video content with a starter dose of commercials. The e-commerce giant expected some churn – that is, people to leave the service – but was surprised when subscriber numbers weren't really affected.

Armed with the win, they're planning to open up more ad slots in 2025.

Kelly Day, vice-president of Prime Video International, told the Financial Times that Amazon intentionally launched its ad push in January with a light load in an effort to avoid overwhelming customers.

If you recall, ads hit the service on January 29. All of the company's more than 200 million global subscribers were put on the ad-supported tier although for $3 more per month, customers can opt out of the ads.

Amazon also quietly stripped Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision HDR support. These features are now locked behind the aforementioned $3 paywall. According to The Wall Street Journal, current Prime Video watchers on the ad-supported tier can expect between two and three-and-a-half minutes of ads per hour

Day didn't disclose how many customers have switched to the ad-free tier, but noted it was less than the 20 percent figure that some analysts had estimated.

Looking ahead to 2025, Day told the publication that Amazon will be opening up more ad slots to brands. It's a risky move with several potential outcomes, but one Amazon is prepared to embark on.

If done in a non-intrusive way, it's likely that customers will simply put up with it as they did with the first round. Too aggressive a push, however, could result in some users abandoning Prime Video – or worse, canceling their Prime membership out of spite.

The latter could very well come to fruition as Amazon is also planning to launch interactive, "shoppable" ads that allow customers to add items to their shopping cart right from their remote. For those that simply want to watch programming uninterrupted, this could be a deal breaker.

Permalink to story:

Buckle up: Amazon wants to push more ads on Prime Video next year

 
"How much is too much?"
All the way till there are as many as current year TV has.
Seriously, is there a single human being that still
can watch a movie interrupted by 6 ads each 5 minutes?
It is inhumane. And I want to remind, TV ads amount grew too
as TV people have become more and more hungry for advertisers
money.
We have passed golden streaming years.
Next stop is lower tier streaming plan becoming unwatchable.
 
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Amazon don't care one bit....they know they got you by the balls on your Prime Delivery subscription.
 
The only reason I kept Prime around was for the grad tour, which is now over. Also Clarkson's farm. I dropped it after the ads started showing up and still dont miss it. Now just to find the last Grand Tour episode on the High Seas.....
 
I think I'm about done with amazon prime. Price, price raise, adding ads, another price raise is likely coming. started at like $99.
 
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Soon people will be nostalgic for the times when they could watch ads for free.
 
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The Talking Tech said:
Amazon don't care one bit....they know they got you by the balls on your Prime Delivery subscription.
Click to expand...

I wish they would just offer the Prime Delivery without video service; even if it was only a penny cheaper I bet plenty of people would prefer that as an option.
 
Impudicus said:
I think I'm about done with amazon prime. Price, price raise, adding ads, another price raise is likely coming. started at like $99.
Click to expand...
Maybe, other big resellers should unite and make their own same day delivery which they all will help finance. Then they would offer one joint prime which works on all of their online stores.
Amazon should not be alone collecting prime membership money.
 
The reason I purchased Amazon Prime was for free delivery and commercial free Streaming.
Now the turn around and want me to add an additional delivery charge on some items and I have to watch commercials before anything I want to stream.
Scam, scam, scam.
They don't make enough money, they want more and more and more.
 
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I can understand a lot of ads on over the air TV, but if you're paying a yearly subscription there should be less.
 
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I'm already acquiring my Prime Video content that I pay for by other means as I didn't pay for ads and I think anyone who has had Prime for 10+ years should be grandfathered in with no ads.
 
Theinsanegamer said:
The only reason I kept Prime around was for the grad tour, which is now over. Also Clarkson's farm. I dropped it after the ads started showing up and still dont miss it. Now just to find the last Grand Tour episode on the High Seas.....
Click to expand...
Don't worry mate...I can assure you that Clarkson's Farm is also available on the High Seas...
 
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Buckle up? You mean raise the sails.
 
If I paid for Prime Video itself I would certainly have dropped it but it's just something I get on the side with Amazon Prime, and that still works out well for me.
 
Impudicus said:
I think I'm about done with amazon prime. Price, price raise, adding ads, another price raise is likely coming. started at like $99.
Click to expand...
I remember it being $79. the it was $99, then $119, then $139. Not because it was losing money, but because Bezos wanted more profit. Now they want $3 a month on top to avoid ads.
FaTaL said:
Amazon trying to re-coupe the billion dollar loss from Rings of Power I see.....
Click to expand...
Much like Sony and the Concord tax, we all pay for their miserable failures. Unless you dont buy,of course.
scoffer said:
Don't worry mate...I can assure you that Clarkson's Farm is also available on the High Seas...
Click to expand...
I wish the finished seasons were on blu ray. I'd love a complete blu ray collection of The Grand Tour, in 4k. Happily pay for it. But Amazon doesnt want to make one....
 
toooooot said:
"How much is too much?"
All the way till there are as many as current year TV has.
Seriously, is there a single human being that still
can watch a movie interrupted by 6 ads each 5 minutes?
It is inhumane. And I want to remind, TV ads amount grew too
as TV people have become more and more hungry for advertisers
money.
We have passed golden streaming years.
Next stop is lower tier streaming plan becoming unwatchable.
Click to expand...
With TV we were getting about 2 mins of content for every 1 minute of commercials based on 30 min shows running for 20-22 mins.
 
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Honestly Amazon Prime video is trash anyway.
 
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The incessant need to grow to keep stock holders happy is killing these companies. Making the same huge amount of money as last year isn't enough, they have to make more. They've completely run out of ideas and now are just ratcheting up the payback from existing services until something breaks. Google are in exactly the same boat - seemingly completely unable to innovate just rinsing what they have.
 
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OortCloud said:
The incessant need to grow to keep stock holders happy is killing these companies. Making the same huge amount of money as last year isn't enough, they have to make more. They've completely run out of ideas and now are just ratcheting up the payback from existing services until something breaks. Google are in exactly the same boat - seemingly completely unable to innovate just rinsing what they have.
Click to expand...
The issue isnt stockholders, they are perfectly happy to invest in a company and absolutely tank revenue if it means spreading "The Message". See also: Disney, EA, Warner bros.

https://companiesmarketcap.com/amazon/total-debt/

The REAL issue is the debt. Amazon has $132.7 BILLION in debt. In 2018 that was only $24 billion. With debt at 5% APR, that would be $6.6 BILLION in interest payments. When that debt was taken on, the interest rate was basically 0. So now Amazon has to make billions in extra revenue just to service debt. Almost like taking tons of debt when interest rates were 0% was a really bad idea, but nobody would listen, and instead of using the covid surge to pay debt amazon TRIPLED their debt.

They are not the only company to do this.
 
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JupitersMoon said:
Honestly Amazon Prime video is trash anyway.
Click to expand...
It has the worst content of any of the major streamers, and that also includes some of the free stream services. In fact, the only time I've found anything worth watching the past several years was, in fact, Rings of Power. Now there are at least two ad breaks in each episode. Pathetic.
 
Prrredictable said:
In fact, the only time I've found anything worth watching the past several years was, in fact, Rings of Power. Now there are at least two ad breaks in each episode. Pathetic.
Click to expand...
As a bit of a Tolkien nerd (I still have my First Edition hardback copy of The Silmarillion I got and read when it came out - yes I'm that old) I have to stop you there... [RANT MODE ENABLE]... Sorry, but Rings of Power might be the most execrable pile of ordure ever to be shat from the rancid bowels of Hollywood. A towering work of imagination sawn off at the knees by the the feckless, mewling, insensitive screenwriters. Even the Witch-King, festering in the darkest depths of Angmar, couldn't come up with something so repellent as this.
 
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