Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. a platform
    • ex. Different social media platforms are now strict with their privacy policies.
  2. charge
    • ex. The beach hotel charges a lot of money for its rooms.
  3. ad-free
    • ex. You can watch ad-free videos online. Just pay a small fee of $2.00.
  4. compelling
    • ex. The story of the movie is compelling. Viewers enjoyed the main character’s experiences and adventures.
  5. a subscriber
    • ex. The number of cable TV subscribers went down since TV shows and movies became available online.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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Amazon Prime Video will soon have advertisements on its online platform. This will start early next year. Amazon Prime will charge members in the U.S. $2.99 per month (about 445 JPY). This is for the ad-free service. According to the company, it will show limited ads during shows and movies starting next year. Amazon hopes to use the money from the ads to invest in compelling video content that subscribers love.

Amazon said the price of the Prime membership will not change next year. It plans to announce the price for ad-free plans for other countries soon. For U.S. users, Amazon said it will email Prime members weeks before ads are introduced into its programs. The email will also include information on how to sign up for the ad-free option.

Other streaming platforms have already started asking subscribers for additional payment for ad-free videos. For example, Netflix charges $15.49 (about 2,300 JPY). Since October, Disney+ has started charging subscribers $13.99 (about 2,090 JPY). Because of this, some users are not sure whether to avail the ad-free services or not.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Online Video Platforms

  • Which do you prefer, online video platforms or cable TV? Why? Discuss.
  • What do you think about the growing number of online video platforms (ex. it’s good to have a lot of entertainment choices)? Discuss.
  • In your opinion, how much time should a person spend on online video platforms? Why? Discuss.

Online Ads and Ad-free Content

  • What kind of online ads do you often see? Discuss.
  • As a subscriber to online content, such as music or video, is it important for you to listen to or watch something without ads? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • According to the article, some subscribers are not sure whether to get ad-free services or not. Why do you think they can’t decide? Discuss.