Amazon Prime Video is going to start showing ads in all of its movies and TV shows — unless you pay more.
The Amazon streaming service announced Tuesday that commercials will begin appearing Jan. 29, 2024, during content for subscribers in the U.S., UK, Germany and Canada. The same change will come to France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Australia later in the year.
In a letter sent to subscribers, the company said the “limited advertisements” will allow the platform “to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time.” Ads will also not be shown on any content that is purchased or rented.
Customers can continue watching Amazon Prime Video shows and movies without ads if they pay an extra $2.99 per month. Prime Membership costs $139 a year for perks that include free shipping for most items; with the extra fee for ad-free service, membership would amount to roughly $15 a month total.
Amazon previously announced the change was coming in September, but did not announce a start date for the ads.
CBS reports Amazon is far from the only streaming service to shift to a tiered subscription model in recent years. Netflix, Hulu, Peacock and Disney+ already offer different prices for subscriptions with or without ads.
According to Deadline, it’s also a step towards Amazon’s goals to grow revenue from advertising. The company earned $38 billion from ads last year — a small portion of its $502 billion in total annual revenue — from ad-supported Prime Video platforms like Freevee and Twitch.
Amazon Prime Video is the exclusive home for Amazon Originals like “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Reacher,” “The Boys,” “Upload,” and “Fleabag,” plus stand-up comedy specials by Jim Gaffigan and Nate Bargatze; Amazon Music Live performances from Garth Brooks, Ed Sheeran and Green Day; and movies like “Totally Killer” and “The Tomorrow War.”