“Unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming” of thousands of movies and TV shows for anyone signed up for Amazon’s $79-a-year free shipping program. That was a key promise when the online retail giant introduced Prime Video in 2011.
A lot has changed in a dozen years. The price of Prime has nearly doubled to $139 a year, and consumers are flocking to cheaper, ad-supported video subscriptions. And Amazon has become a big player in online advertising. Now the company is reportedly mulling a cheaper version of Prime Video with ads — and it could pay off for Amazon in multiple ways, experts told TheWrap.