What Brits need to know about today's major change to Amazon Prime which will affect your viewing experience

The day is finally here. No, not the dreaded first day of the week, the day big changes come into place for Amazon Prime.

Prime Video is home to all kinds of hit films and TV shows like Reacher and Clarkson’s Farm as well as streaming select Premier League matches.

But from today (5 February), subscribers are set to have a major change to the way they watch their favourites on the platform.

And while we’re still early into the year and you might be sticking to your resolution to save money, this might cost you a little extra cash.

What are the changes Amazon is introducing today?

From today, Prime Video is introducing adverts to TV shows and films on the platform.

Amazon said in a message to customers that this would enable it to 'continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time’.

So yep, that’s right, when you’re next binging The Boys, you’ll have to deal with adverts.

Amazon

How often do ads play within films and TV shows?

Amazon’s customer service site explains that from today: “Content offered by Prime includes limited advertisements that run before and during playback.”

This means that not only before starting off a film on Prime Video, ads will also run while it’s playing, somewhat interrupting your viewing experience.

Although, ads won’t play on content that you’ve paid to rent or purchase. Plus, any sports and Live TV included with Prime will show adverts for all streamers.

There will also be ads for all customers on Amazon Freevee.

Amazon Prime

How do I go ad-free?

You can upgrade your membership to ‘Prime Video Ad Free’ through the Prime Video website to escape the adverts. It’ll cost an extra £2.99 a month for this subscription.

Through the site, go to ‘Account & Settings’, then select ‘Your Account’.

Here you’ll find ‘Go Ad Free’ and then click ‘Start Subscription’.

You can also do it on the Prime Video app ‘for Fire TVs, smart TVs, game consoles and set top boxes’.

Simply go to ‘Settings’ and select ‘Prime’. Then just select ‘Go Ad Free’ and then ‘Start Subscription’.

Once you’ve stated your Prime Video Ad Free subscription, you’ll no longer have adverts before and during films and TV shows from Prime.

There may still be trailers running beforehand but you can skip those.

Remember, if you’re not bothered about the adverts, you don’t need to change your subscription.

Will you be making the upgrade?

Topics: Amazon Prime, Money, UK News, TV and Film

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_