Amazon Prime Video is the latest streaming platform to announce an ad-supported offering.

Its new ad tier will become Prime Video’s default offering for members, rolling out in Canada (along with the U.S., U.K., and Germany) in early 2024, with other countries to follow soon after.

“We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers,” Amazon said in a statement on September 22. The company is “not making changes in 2024 to the current price of Prime membership,” and no actions are required, with subscribers starting to see ads when the new default Prime tier is launched.

That said, there will be an ad-free option available for members (except for live event content such as sports, which will continue to include advertising), running an extra $2.99 USD per month for U.S. Prime members on top of their membership fee, with pricing for Canada to be announced at a later date.

“We will email Prime members several weeks before ads are introduced into Prime Video with information on how to sign up for the ad-free option if they would like,” according to the statement.

Adele Lettau, VP investments at Dentsu isn’t surprised at Amazon’s move. “As the cost of quality content continues to rise and audiences are continuing to shift from linear TV to other content options, this is where audiences are, [as is] the advertising opportunity. What we need to watch is frequency management and a great experience for Canadians – too many ads don’t make for a great brand experience.”

Lettau also says the opportunity for Amazon is different in terms of “how it connects sales with viewership opportunities, and that will be a unique value proposition that they will have.”

Regardless, the quality has to be good, Lettau asserts. “As inflation continues to rise, the average Canadian household will look for ways to save – reduced cost on service without having to cut becomes more attractive and these ad-supported platforms will find growth, but the ad experience needs to be quality as well.”

Netflix has had an ad-supported offering for almost a year, Crave’s has been live since July, and Disney+ announced its ad tier in August.