You'd be forgiven for feeling like TV streaming seems a lot more like cable telly lately.
Amazon's Prime Video service will start displaying "limited advertisements" from July 2 this year.
If you want to avoid the ads, you'll need to sign up for the new ad-free option for an additional $2.99 per month.
Here are Prime Video's current prices for the monthly and annual plan options:
| Inclusions | Details | |
|---|---|---|
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Prime Video
|
|
|
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Prime Video
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Going ad-free would cost monthly users $12.98 per month. At this stage, there's no option to buy an annual ad-free package.
As such, customers with an annual Amazon Prime subscription will simply pay an extra $2.99 per on top of their current plan, with the option to toggle it on or off each month.
Interestingly, in a set-and-forget move, Amazon is allowing customers to pre-order ad-free ahead of the July 2 release. Customers won't be charged until July 2 when the offer becomes available.
So, how many ads will you cop in one sitting? In the same email to Prime members, the streamer re-iterated previous messaging that it aims to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers".
Amazon first announced the change was coming in September last year but Aussie viewers were spared these past few months while testing was conducted in other markets including the US in January.
While nothing has been confirmed for Australia yet, the Verge reported that in the US Prime Video subscribers without ad-free lost access to Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos while streaming.
Streaming is becoming more expensive and Amazon isn't the only player in the market making changes. Netflix upped its prices in Australia just last week and Disney Plus' prices went up in March. The latter has introduced an ad tier in the US which could arrive in Australia in the future.
Here's a look at how streaming plans compare in Australia:
|
AMC+ Bundle
TV7-day free trial
From
$8.99/mth
or $83.88/yr
|
|
Disney+
From
$9.99/mth
or $179.99/yr
|
|
Amazon Prime Video
TV + movies + more30-day free trial
From
$9.99/mth
or $79/yr
|
|
Netflix
From
$9.99/mth
|
|
Binge
TV + movies + sport7-day free trial
From
$10.00/mth
or $79/yr
|
|
Crunchyroll
TV + movies7-day free trial
From
$11.99/mth
or $119.99/yr
|
|
Apple TV
TV + movies7-day free trial
From
$15.99/mth
or $129/yr
|
|
Kayo Sports
Sport7-day free trial
From
$29.99/mth
|
|
DAZN
From
$31.99/mth
or $149.99/yr
|
|
Foxtel Now
TV + movies + sport10-day free trial
From
$35/mth
|
|
Paramount+
TV + movies + sport7-day free trial
From
$7.99/mth
or $70.99/yr
Link not supplied
|
|
Stan.
TV + movies + sport
From
$9.99/mth
Link not supplied
|
|
HBO Max
TV + movies
From
$11.99/mth
or $119.99yr
Link not supplied
|
|
BritBox
TV7-day free trial
From
$13.99/mth
or $139.99/yr
Link not supplied
|
|
MUBI
Movies7-day free trial
From
$14.99/mth
or $119.88/yr
Link not supplied
|
At present, Prime Video is one of the cheaper streamers available starting at $9.99 per month. When ads arrive in July its plan with ads will end up being $2 more expensive than the equivalent Netflix plan. However, it will still be cheaper to get a plan without ads from Amazon for $12.98 compared to Netflix's $18.99 per month plan.
There are no other changes to existing Prime member benefits.
Dylan Crismale
Digital Content Editor
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