Just the other day, I was having – what I’d like to believe was – a spirited conversation about over-the-top (OTT) streaming apps with a colleague. We were talking about how he had subscribed to virtually every service that exists in the Indian market as of today while I, just a few. “It’s a trap,” he claimed, “an endless pit” of content we know “we can’t consume for the life of us,” and yet, “we can’t seem to get enough.”

As is often the case with pretty much every other human being on this planet, we quickly drifted to fashioning conspiracy theories. There was some disagreement. We talked it out. But one thing was clear to us. Every app slash service had “something unique” to offer and so, the “lure” wasn’t completely unfounded. It’s not a perfect world and there is no such thing as a free lunch. The real question is, how do you get the most bang for your buck through all this clutter? Content could be a benchmark, but content on its own, may not be enough for many people. What else? Amazon’s model comes to mind, sort of like a no-brainer, because of all the “extras” it gets you in one ready-to-go package.

I am not here to defend Amazon, or even make a case for it, but here’s the thing, there are three types of people. There are those who love online shopping and those who like to binge-watch like there is no tomorrow. Then there are those who want both. Prime Membership gives you both solutions under one roof, something that Amazon likes to highlight, every chance it gets because, well, it can, and it must.

Over the last few years, it has also transitioned to become a marketplace to rent/buy content online as well as to subscribe to other competing services, including Apple TV Plus. Amazon calls them partners, which is to say that it has made investments – with possible monetary transactions – to build an ecosystem. That is the reason why the Prime Video homepage has so much activity going on lately. Some might say that it has become chaotic. Some spring-cleaning is needed. Amazon has recently announced an update. It is listening.

Then, just the very next day, I received an email from Amazon informing me that it is making Prime Video more expensive, sort of. Here is what it said:

Dear Prime member,

We are writing to you today about an upcoming change to your Prime Video experience. Starting June 17th, 2025, Prime Video movies and TV shows will include limited advertisements. This will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time. We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than TV channels and other streaming services. No action is required from you, and there is no change to the current price of your Prime membership.

We will also offer a new ad-free add-on option for an additional Rs 129/month [Rs 699 annually] that you can sign up for starting on June 17th, 2025.

Prime members will continue to enjoy a wide range of shopping, savings, and entertainment benefits:

Thank you for being a valued member of Amazon Prime.

Sincerely,
The Amazon Prime team

Before you jump to any conclusions, Amazon did not just wake up and decide to put advertisements on Prime Video out of the blue. The plans were known since at least last year. So, we all knew that this was coming. The only thing that is new information is the date. The move will come into effect from May 17 and if you wish to circumvent these ads, you must pay more. That seems fair and most people should come around eventually. Nobody liked ads on YouTube once upon a time. YouTube Premium is now one of its most popular offshoots. It appears to be a tried-and-tested formula for brands to continue to make more money in a market where everything is judged in terms of active monthly users. While it may seem like a price hike – and it is in some way – Amazon is flexing once again when it says that nothing else is changing.

It will continue to offer “unlimited same-day delivery on more than 10 lakhs items and next-day delivery on more than 40 lakhs items”, “exclusive access to Prime Day and early access to other Amazon sale events”, “unlimited 5 percent cashback on all purchases using Amazon Pay ICICI credit card”, “unlimited access to millions of songs, ad-free and millions of podcasts with Amazon Music”, “access to monthly free-in game content and benefits with Prime Gaming”, and “free rotating selection of e-books, magazines and comics with Prime reading.” The benefits outweigh the decision, and Amazon knows it has the upper hand with its additional perks stacking up nicely giving users ample reason to stay. Remember, it is the first global company to do something like this in India for OTT. Netflix hasn’t even dared though it has already started showing ads to customers in multiple global markets like the US and Canada. Maybe Amazon’s move will be the push it needs, but it won’t be as easy to pull off even with its exhaustive catalogue of content, which some say is currently the best in the business. We’ll see how things turn out and chances are we’ll know soon enough.