Amazon Prime Video’s disappearance could point to a future without the service
Something strange is going on with Amazon Prime Video. A report from news site Cord Busters initially claimed that the tech giant was quietly pulling the plug on the service in Britain. If you go to Amazon Prime’s United Kingdom page, you’ll notice that Prime Video isn’t in the list of plans at the bottom. All you see are Prime Monthly and Prime Annuals. The same happens on the American website. Scroll down to the ‘Choose your plan’ section and it’s not there.
It turns out that Prime Video is here to stay, even if it’s blacked out. If you go to the bottom of the UK website you’ll find Prime Video listed among the other subscriptions with a direct link to sign up. However, this is not the case with the American page. There’s no clear indication of Prime Video availability in the United States; no cornered part or even a small hint. Fortunately, the subscription sign-up page is still active if you know where to look or if you have a clutch. The costs of the subscription have not changed. It’s still $8.99/£5.99 per month.
It is displayed more prominently on the Amazon mobile app. Prime Video is tucked away in the settings menu behind a single expandable tab and can still be downloaded via app stores. All seems good, right? Not exactly, because on mobile we couldn’t buy Prime Video itself. Instead, we were forced to buy the regular Amazon Prime subscription for $14.99 per month. There was no option for the cheaper service.
Problems with the amount
We don’t know what to think about this. On the one hand, this could be the start of a new attempt to generate more revenue. By hiding or possibly even ending the service, the platform could force people to buy the more expensive Amazon Prime if they want programs like Fallout. It is very possible. At the end of January 29, Prime Video introduced an ad-supported plan as the new basic service, which understandably annoyed a lot of people. They had to cough up an extra $2.99/£2.99 per month to get rid of the advertising.
However, the sudden disappearance of Prime Video could be the cause of recent bugs. Recently, people have started noticing strange issues with the service. Second episodes of certain shows are released before the first, audio for entire languages is missing, and translation errors are just some of the problems viewers encounter.
We’re leaning toward the glitches as the source of Prime Video’s disappearance. Amazon has reportedly disputed Cord Busters’ claim in a statement to Engadget saying that Prime Video “is still available in the US as a standalone… subscription.” Hopefully it stays that way. It’s currently one of the cheaper streaming options out there compared to the other major services. The whole situation could be a bug or bad code that wreaks havoc. But something tells us there’s more to this story.
If you’re looking for something to watch this weekend, check out Ny Breaking’s latest roundup of the seven newest movies and shows on Netflix, Prime Video, and Max.