As promised earlier this year, AMC+ has launched an ad-supported tier before October, offering consumers the option to save on the cost by sitting through ad breaks. AMC+ joins a number of other streaming services, including Disney+ and Netflix, who have added a ‘with ads’ plan in the past year.
Prior to today, AMC+ only offered one subscription option. Priced at $8.99 a month, the standard (now Ad-Free plan) unlocks access to content from AMC, BBC America, IFC Films Unlimited, Shudder, and Sundance Now.
Starting today, consumers now have the added option of subscribing to an ad-supported AMC+ tier for $4.99 a month. At the moment, it is only possible to sign up to the new ‘Monthly With Ads’ plan via AMC+, but AMC Networks has confirmed that support for the With Ads tier will expand to third-party platforms and channels providers in the coming weeks.
“This ad-supported version of AMC+ gives consumers more flexibility while bringing ads to the only piece of our distribution ecosystem that wasn’t already ad-supported,” said Kim Kelleher, chief commercial officer of AMC Networks.
In addition to ads, those signed up to the ad-supported plan also don’t have access to the ability to download videos to watch offline. In terms of the content, however, there are no differences between the two tiers, with ad-supported subscribers also getting access to Shudder, Sundance Now and IFC Films Unlimited, along with AMC, BBC America, IFC and Sundance TV linear networks.
On the topic of ad load, AMC says ad-supported subscribers can expect to encounter no more than five minutes of ads per hour.
Interestingly, AMC Networks confirmed that the launch of the new ad-supported tier won’t result in any changes to the cost of the ad-free plan, which remains priced at $8.99 a month, or $83.88 a year – which breaks down to around $6.99 a month.
Speaking of the annual plan, it looks like AMC doesn’t intend to offer an ad-supported annual plan, so only ad-free subscribers will be able to take advantage of the savings on offer with a yearly subscription.
