Amazon confirms advertising on Prime Video in Italy: when it will arrive and how to avoid it

SmartWorld readers will have known for some time that Prime Video content would have been interrupted by advertising breaks: it all started in the USA last year, but now the (unwelcome) news is also arriving in Italy. Here is the communication that Amazon is sending to Prime subscribers to announce the change:

We’re contacting you to let you know if there’s something new about your experience on Prime Video. Starting April 9, 2024, Prime Video movies and TV series will include a limited number of advertisements. This innovation will allow us to continue investing in quality content and to increase these investments over time and consequently support the maintenance of the quality and quantity of the content included in Prime Video. We aim to have significantly fewer advertisements than linear television and other streaming services. There is no change to the current price of your Prime membership.

You can cancel your subscription at no additional cost or see your next renewal date by visiting your account here.

We’ll also be offering a new ad-free option for an additional $1.99 per month*, which you can sign up for here.

From the April 9th onwards Prime Video films and TV series will also have a “limited number” of advertising, a bit like what already happens in public and private TV, for which, however, Amazon specifies that there will be a number “significantly lower” of announcements. Unfortunately these quotes must be taken for what they are, since we do not have precise numbers to report to you.

This allowed Amazon to Don’t raise the price of your Prime membershipbut to get rid of advertising completely you will have to pay €1.99 per month more, for a total of almost 24 euros per year. If you think that the annual subscription costs around 50 euros, it is basically a 50% price increase for those who want to have the same current experience without advertising.

In any case, no one will certainly force you to pay the supplement: it will be up to you to understand whether this viewing with advertising is right for you or not, and in any case you can always cancel the subscription at any time without additional costs.