The Price Hikes Continue
They are at it again; streaming services continue to stick it to their customers. Over the past several years streaming services have raised their prices to the point where some of these companies are charging just as much as what many of us paid for cable several years ago.
In a recent move, Prime Video will no longer offer Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on its basic tier. You will now have to pay an additional $2.99 monthly to move up to the “ad-free” option to obtain these features. Dolby Vision HDR is a picture enhancement feature that noticeably improves picture quality over non-DV sources. Dolby Atmos is a sound enhancement feature that brings a more immersive audio experience namely by adding height channels to the surround sound listening environment. You must also have the proper equipment to extract these features.
Going back to the main topic, Amazon started running ads on January 29th on its Prime Video streaming service and made subscribers pay an extra $2.99 a month to watch ad-free. So, Amazon has hit its subscribers with a double whammy in the form of two back-to-back price hikes.
Furthermore, Amazon Prime members who are signed up for a yearly subscription will no longer have access to Dolby Vision and Atmos content unless they pay an additional $2.99 per month.
Prime Video is also available as an $8.99-per-month standalone subscription; if you subscribe this way, you will have to add $2.99 per month to your subscription to get access to Dolby Vision and Atmos content.
This recent move was confirmed by Amazon spokesperson Katie Barker stating that “Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos capabilities are only available on the ad-free option, on relevant titles.”
How many of you are willing to pay extra for the ad-free option to watch and listen to Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos content? Leave your comments below.