The report added that the company is in the early stages of planning an ad-supported tier for Prime Video as it looks further to grow its advertising business beyond the core e-commerce formats and generate more revenue from entertainment. “Creating an ad-supported tier would generate more revenue at a time when the company is more focused on profitability across its businesses and would meet ad buyers’ demand to place ads within buzzworthy streaming content,” states the WSJ report. The WSJ report notes that by adding more advertisements to content on Prime Video for existing Prime members, the company wants to give them the option to pay for a more expensive ad-free tier and other features. The report also adds that the e-commerce giant is planning for “short” ad breaks but doesn’t provide more information on how they will be displayed compared to other streaming platforms. Prime Video is currently included with Prime membership for $14.99 per month or $139 per year and as a standalone subscription at only $8.99 per month. At this stage, the ad-supported tier pricing for Prime Video is unknown. Of late, more and more video streaming services are opting for ad-supported tiers to expand to a broader audience by offering a low-cost plan, given its increasing popularity.
