Here we are ! After several weeks in the dark, Prime Video subscribers are now receiving a message informing them of a change to their offer. And that will definitely make people cringe.
SVOD platforms such as Netflix, Prime Video or Disney+ are now part of everyday life in France. They all have hundreds of millions of subscribers around the world and are an alternative consumption model to what we know. These video streaming services are investing heavily to compete with each other, but for several months it has been the consumer who has suffered. For what ? Companies look for any means to be profitable and tend (too) to tighten the screws, with lots of price increases or subscriptions with advertising. This is just the beginning and it continues…
Advertising in the Prime Video offer or a tax, what a choice!
Unfortunately, as we have seen several times, all SVOD players are heading in the same direction and are willing to try anything to avoid losing sales. Among other things, through price increases, even if this could lead to a loss of subscribers. A new Netflix price increase, the sixth, could also be announced this year. Disney+ is no more generous and neither is Prime Video. Amazon’s service confirms a not very pleasant change: the introduction of advertising in Prime Video films and series in France. Finally, the deployment will take place on April 9, 2024.
Subscribers received this message via email:
Dear Amazon Prime member,
We’re writing to let you know what’s new for your Prime Video experience. Starting April 9, 2024, Prime Video movies and series will contain limited advertising*. This allows us to continue investing in attractive content and increase our investments in the long term to maintain the quality and quantity of content on Prime Video. Our goal is to run significantly less advertising than traditional linear TV and other streaming services. There will be no change to the current price of your Prime membership
.About Amazon.
No price changes? Really ? Yes, but it’s obfuscated and Amazon has learned from its competitors. Prime Video subscribers will still pay 6.99 dollars on April 9th. On the other hand, it must also be accepted that the programs will be parasitized by advertising. Because the only way to avoid this is to pay $1.99 for a new option without ads. In order to actually maintain the current offer, the price will then increase from 6.99 to 8.98 dollars per month.
Stronger restrictions will soon be generalized?
This Prime Video with advertising is not for everyone and certainly not for some American subscribers who are suing Amazon. “For years, people have purchased and renewed Amazon Prime subscriptions thinking they could enjoy ad-free streaming. But last month, Amazon changed the game. Customers now have to pay an extra $2.99 monthly to get rid of it. Even those who have taken out an annual subscription and are halfway through their course » explains the officially filed complaint.
We’ll see the result, but there’s a second bit of bad news. Still in the USA, some people noticed that with the classic Prime Video subscription for 6.99 dollars it was sometimes impossible to have films and series in Dolby Atmos and/or HDR Dolby Vision. And as Forbes confirms, this is absolutely not a technical error. “Since publishing this article, Amazon Prime Video has confirmed to me that it was aware of the removal of Dolby Vision and Dolby Vision from the basic subscription. It wasn’t a technical error.” (above Forbes). Soon the same sanction in France? Have.
