Amazon Prime Video Will Start Ads On January 29th

Amazon has generated a new source of additional revenue and it is expected to bring in another $5 billion a year.

On January 29, Prime Video from Amazon will be introducing commercials during its shows and movies, joining the ranks of other streaming services that have adopted different levels of subscription plans.

The firm had already informed customers that ads were on their way, but had not divulged when they would start until now. In an email to subscribers on Tuesday, they announced that the advertisement addition would become active in late January.

U.S. customers of Amazon Prime can now pay an additional $2.99 a month if they would like to enjoy their service without advertisements. A link was sent out on Tuesday via e-mail for those who wanted to opt-in for the ad-free version.

If customers don’t want to pay extra for ad-free access, they shouldn’tworry. Amazon does plan to have a notably lower number of ads compared to the linear TV and other streaming TV services.

Competition is fierce between streaming services in terms of gaining viewers and consumers have become more savvy at shifting between them, often based on the cost.

In the U.S., Disney recently unveiled a new pricing plan that charges $13.99 a month for an ad-free version of Disney+, marking an increase of 75% from the ad-supported version. Comparatively, Netflix’s ad-free plan costs $15.49 per month, more than double the price of the version with ads.

Advertising will still be featured on Amazon Prime’s live events–which include sports–despite the fact that it already does.

Amazon has stated that there won’t be any modifications to the rate of Prime membership in the coming year.