New Delhi: Amazon’s subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service, Prime Video, will begin introducing “limited advertisements” for viewers in India starting June 17, 2025. The move marks a significant shift in the platform’s monetization strategy as it looks to ramp up investment in original and licensed content.
In a communication sent to Prime members, Amazon stated, “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.”
The change will be rolled out without altering the existing Prime membership pricing. However, subscribers who prefer an uninterrupted viewing experience will have the option to upgrade to an ad-free version for an additional fee of ₹699 per year or ₹129 per month. The ad-free upgrade will be available to opt-in from the same day the changes go into effect.
Notably, Amazon’s ad-supported streaming platform MX Player — acquired and operated under its AVOD (advertising video-on-demand) model — will not offer an ad-free version as part of this new plan.
With this move, Prime Video joins other hybrid streaming platforms like JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar, which offer both ad-supported and premium ad-free tiers. Until now, Prime Video, alongside Netflix, operated solely on an SVOD model in the Indian market.
While the company has not disclosed the extent of its planned content investment, the strategy aligns with Amazon’s global rollout of advertising on Prime Video, which began earlier in markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
As streaming platforms face rising content costs and growing competition, monetizing through ads while offering flexibility through premium tiers is emerging as a sustainable approach. With India’s rapidly growing digital video audience, Amazon’s dual-tier model may help it capture both value-conscious consumers and premium viewers willing to pay for an uninterrupted experience.
