Amazon Prime customers have erupted in fury and anger after the streaming service made a huge announcement to change the terms of its use.
The streaming service, home to the likes of The Boys, Good Omens and Clarkson’s Farm, has been a haven for users since it was launched in 2006. The service has grown in popularity as people turn away from traditional TV and splurge with bingeworthy shows.
But now, Amazon Prime account owners have been left seething after bosses at the firm announced a major change within the company. The move means that Amazon Prime is now following in the footsteps of fellow streaming giant Netflix, sparking fury from disgruntled viewers.
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In a statement released on Wednesday, Amazon Prime announced that it would be introducing a tiered subscription service. Those not willing to pay any money will now be made to sit through advertisements, whilst those who do not wish to do so will be charged their regular subscription fee, plus an extra £2.99 a month to have the ads removed.
Amazon Prime said in the statement that the introduction of ads “will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time”. They also tried to hit back at the expected criticism of the move, saying they “aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers”.
The move to including ads in their content will be introduced from February 5. And it is not just the UK who will be affected, as Amazon announced the same process for German subscribers at the same time.
But this is not the first country that will be seeing ads on the platform. Viewers in the US and Canada will be welcoming adverts onto the service earlier, as the scheme is set to launch there on January 29.
Many subscribers are less than happy with the move from Amazon bosses, with several taking to social media to vent their frustrations. One former user upon hearing the news, wrote: “And I just cancelled [my Prime Video]. Got a refund for the rest of my year’s subscription.”
A second subscriber hit out at the platform, saying: “This is b******t if you have an existing annual membership. They shouldn’t be able to change it until your current membership renews.”
Whilst a third account hinted they would need to search shows on less safe websites: “Sigh, just another reason to break out the eye patch and parrot. When I ditched Netflix, I thought I would regret it – won’t regret this one either.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
