Amazon Prime Video will soon start showing ads during movies, shows — unless you pay an extra fee

(WJW) – Amazon Prime Video is moving ahead with plans to introduce advertisements to its content unless users pay an additional fee.

In a letter sent to members this week, the streaming service announced that Prime Video movies and TV shows will include “limited ads” starting on Jan. 29.

Members will have to pay an extra $2.99 per month for the new ad-free option. Otherwise, your bill won’t change.

The letter goes on to say the company aims to have “meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers.”

“This will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time,” the company said in the letter.

Ads in Prime Video content will start in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Canada in early 2024, followed by France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Australia later in the year. Amazon said that it’s not making changes to the price of Prime membership next year. It plans to announce pricing for ad-free programming for countries other than the U.S. at a later time.

Netflix and Disney+ have already moved to tiered subscriptions — and raised their subscription prices — as streaming services continue fighting over viewers. Many other streaming services, including Max, Hulu, Paramount+ and Peacock also have ad-supported plans.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.