Amazon Prime Commercials Coming To Amazon Prime in 2024 (1 Viewer)

[Garysb]

Amazon Prime will start running commercials in early 2024 during movies and series. Commericals are already being shown during NFL games on Prime. Subscribers can pay an additional $2.99 a month to continue to watch Prime commercial free.

Amazon To Start Running Ads In Prime Video Series & Movies, Will Launch Ad-Free Tier For Extra Fee

Ads are coming to Prime Video's entertainment content. Commercials in movies and series will be introduced in the U.S., and elsewhere in early 2024.

deadline.com

 

[Tino]

Glad I don’t watch movies on Prime. Also this won’t affect films that are MA compatible or purchased thru Amazon.

 

[TravisR]

"Hey, you already pay for this service. Now we want you to pay even more."

 

[Ronald Epstein]

"Hey, you already pay for this service. Now we want you to pay even more."

It's crazy how expensive streaming services have become. I keep reading that digital piracy is up considerably and I would think a lot of it has to do with how unaffordable entertainment is becoming for some.

As far as Amazon is concerned, I don't watch movies or series on Prime that often. It's sad to see that on top of paying a rather expensive yearly fee for Amazon Prime, one of its main perks now has a monthly fee attachment added to it, completely devaluating it. I have always scoffed at the price of getting free Amazon delivery, but as long as there was a commercial-free streaming service that came with it, I felt better about paying it.

One of the perks I get with my Verizon Wireless subscription is a Hulu/Disney bundle. The Hulu tier has ads, and I can't begin to tell you how annoying they are. First, they play approx. every 7 minutes and it's the same commercials over and over again.

I haven't done enough reading on the subject to understand why streaming services are in such trouble these days but I would imagine subscriber cost is a huge factor. I would also imagine audiences are binge-watching on one service, canceling, and then doing the same on another to save some money.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I haven't done enough reading on the subject to understand why streaming services are in such trouble these days but I would imagine subscriber cost is a huge factor. I would also imagine audiences are binge-watching on one service, canceling, and then doing the same on another to save some money.

Some streaming services are in trouble because their programming is so expensive. Too much programming they're financing cost just as much if not more than the movies playing in movie theaters. It's not sustainable unless they increase revenues which means more advertising and increased consumer pricing.

 

[Rob W]

I haven't done enough reading on the subject to understand why streaming services are in such trouble these days but I would imagine subscriber cost is a huge factor. I would also imagine audiences are binge-watching on one service, canceling, and then doing the same on another to save some money.

Streaming services have always been in trouble - none of the major ones have been anywhere close to turning a profit from the moment they began.
You simply cannot give away as much content as they offer at the price level they charge and somehow manage to make money. And in the process of trying to build these businesses, they have managed to cripple or destroy many of the long-term distribution channels that had served them so well for years.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I'm OK with a commercial before the show but not during. If the intention is to interrupt, I'll probably upgrade.

 

[TravisR]

Streaming services have always been in trouble - none of the major ones have been anywhere close to turning a profit from the moment they began.
You simply cannot give away as much content as they offer at the price level they charge and somehow manage to make money. And in the process of trying to build these businesses, they have managed to cripple or destroy many of the long-term distribution channels that had served them so well for years.

I never understood how a streaming service would turn a profit. Apparently, the studio folks with a salary 100 times bigger than I could ever dream of are finally catching up to my dumb ass.

 

[benbess]

After years of losses Netflix now makes big profits, but it's the exception so far.

"Netflix added 5.9 million subscribers to bring its global total to 238 million. Its revenue rose 3 percent, to $8.2 billion, from the same period last year, and the company also said it had $1.5 billion in profit in the quarter, a similar number to last year at this time."

Netflix Reports Growth Amid the Backdrop of Two Strikes

The streaming company’s performance has been helped by its crackdown on password sharing and a relatively new advertising tier introduced last year.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Malcolm R]

I think Netflix has far more subscribers than most any other service (Amazon comes closest, but some of those numbers may be people that don't actually stream but use other Prime benefits). Plus streaming is about the only thing they do at Netflix. Most of the other streamers are all a division of larger studios being stretched in numerous directions.

I don't watch too much content at Prime, so I probably won't upgrade at first and see how it goes. If they suddenly get a bunch of stuff I want to watch, I may have to reconsider.

Seems like these services could simply charge more to advertisers. If you can offset the commercials for only around $3-4 a month, they can't just roll that into their advertising rates? Where else are the advertisers going to go?

 

[Todd Erwin]

And Prime Video has the distinction of having two of the most expensive series ever produced (on a per episode basis) - Rings of Power and Wheel of Time.

Some streaming services are in trouble because their programming is so expensive. Too much programming they're financing cost just as much if not more than the movies playing in movie theaters. It's not sustainable unless they increase revenues which means more advertising and increased consumer pricing.

Streaming services have always been in trouble - none of the major ones have been anywhere close to turning a profit from the moment they began.
You simply cannot give away as much content as they offer at the price level they charge and somehow manage to make money. And in the process of trying to build these businesses, they have managed to cripple or destroy many of the long-term distribution channels that had served them so well for years.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Another issue with Prime Video is that no one really knows how much of that annual membership fee goes towards Prime Video programming (except for maybe Amazon bean counters).

Hopefully, Amazon will adopt the same advertising formula used by Peacock: TV series will have ads inserted where they would normally appear if on a broadcast network and front load ads for movies. This only apply towards “Free with Prime” programming and not rented or purchased content.

 

[Garysb]

With the other streaming services that began adding commercials the commercials were for a lower tier service. Pay less and you have commercials. Prime is doing the opposite pay more to be commercial free. I wonder what will be the differemce between Amazon Prime and FreeVee, their service with commercials, other than original programming on Prime.

 

[Traveling Matt]

Streaming services have always been in trouble - none of the major ones have been anywhere close to turning a profit from the moment they began.
You simply cannot give away as much content as they offer at the price level they charge and somehow manage to make money. And in the process of trying to build these businesses, they have managed to cripple or destroy many of the long-term distribution channels that had served them so well for years.

While also screwing actors, writers and others of a fair wage in the process.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Well, then glad that Mrs Maisel and Jack Ryan just ended their series... and The Peripheral got canceled.

Makes me wanna catch Rings of Power or Wheel of Time even less going forward -- they're both really just not that good despite how much they cost to make. And I can't think of anything else I definitely wanna watch exclusive to Prime... but that's partly why I'm not a regular subscriber anyway...

_Man_

 

[dpippel]

Streaming services have always been in trouble - none of the major ones have been anywhere close to turning a profit from the moment they began.
You simply cannot give away as much content as they offer at the price level they charge and somehow manage to make money. And in the process of trying to build these businesses, they have managed to cripple or destroy many of the long-term distribution channels that had served them so well for years.

They've been their own worst enemies - pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into producing feature film-level shows with multiple seasons in an attempt to drive up subscriptions. The answer isn't to alienate customers and chase them away by inserting commercials into programming and/or raising prices to idiotic levels. They just need to stop spending so much freaking money.

You'd think that Hollywood would have learned its lesson by now, but I doubt it. Mark my words - the next step they'll take is getting rid of a la carte programming and monthly billing. We'll all be forced into yearly commitments for these streaming services soon enough. That's when I'll simply stop watching.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

This only apply towards “Free with Prime” programming and not rented or purchased content.

For now....

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

This only apply towards “Free with Prime” programming and not rented or purchased content.

For now....

I would think they either outright can't legally do it or won't want to risk legal (and PR) trouble just because it might be gray enough -- and the legal trouble could come from both potential consumer class action as well as the studios, et al.

Makes more sense to just charge more for rentals and/or purchases or negotiate better deal w/ the studios, et al than to try to squeeze the relatively small bit of potential ad revenues from doing that me thinks. Even sponsors probably wouldn't wanna risk consumer backlash either.

At most, I can imagine they could try adding ads at the end of each program -- definitely not in the middle -- but that probably wouldn't be attractive enough for sponsors.

While some customers, particularly renters, might be accepting enough of a very brief ad segment just before the start of a program, not sure they'd really wanna risk potential troubles w/ consumer backlash though -- it's not like Prime is the only game or the big kahuna in town afterall... And anyway, by now, it might be fairly common (enough) knowledge that most buyers of digitals aren't watching their bought content on Prime anyway, haha -- renters would be a different story of course.

As it is, Amazon's basically already forcing a lot of ads/promotions (though mostly for stuff they themselves sell) down their customers' throats, especially on their Fire devices... but who knows I guess if they won't try to see just exactly how far they can push their customers, LOL...

_Man_

 

[Todd Erwin]

For now....

It will never, ever apply to purchased content. That would just upset everyone.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

I've learned to never say never. Advertising is so pervasive that I can see them wanting to put ads in front of our purchased movies. Sound crazy? It was done all the time on VHS.