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Tag: Amazon Prime

  • Amazon Prime Now Serving Food Network, Travel Channel Shows

    Amazon has just announced a new content licensing agreement with Scripps Networks Interactive that brings a ton of popular cooking, travel, and do-it-yourself programming to Prime Instant Video.

    The deal will bring shows from five different Scripps networks: HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel and Travel Channel.

    This means that starting today, Prime members can stream Rachael Ray’s Week in a Day; Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations; Cupcake Wars; Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives; House Hunters and House Hunters International; Iron Chef America; Man v. Food; Selling New York and Selling LA; Throwdown With Bobby Flay; Chopped; Ghost Adventures; Yard Crashers, and more for free.

    Amazon notes that this is the first online-only subscription distribution deal for Scripps.

    “The Scripps family of networks – including HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel and Travel Channel – airs some of the highest-quality and most popular unscripted lifestyle programming on TV today,” said Brad Beale, Director of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon. “We are excited to be the exclusive online-only subscription home for Scripps content and know our customers are going to love getting these great shows as part of Prime.”

    Amazon has been snatching up content as of late. Earlier this week they announced that Prime Instant Video will now be the exclusive online home of FX’s hit series Justified. And earlier this month Amazon nabbed the exclusive rights to both Downton Abbey and the upcoming CBS drama Under the Dome.

  • Amazon Nabs Exclusive Rights to FX’s Justified

    Another day in February, another exclusive content grab from Amazon.

    Today, the company announced that their Prime Instant Video service will be the exclusive online streaming home to the FX hit Justified. Also part of this new deal is the now-completed FX series The Shield.

    Justified has already been available to purchase from Amazon at $1.99 an episode, but now the series will be able to be streamed by Amazon Prime customers for no additional cost.

    “Justified and The Shield are two fan-favorites on Amazon,” said Brad Beale, Director of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon. “We’re consistently looking for ways to make Prime even better – and one of the ways we’re doing that is adding shows like these that we know customers love. Prime members have tens of thousands of episodes of their favorite series like Downton Abbey, Falling Skies, and now Justified and The Shield, to enjoy on hundreds of devices, at no additional cost.”

    Earlier this month, Amazon made a big play for the megahit PBS series Downton Abbey. They snatched it away from competitors like Netflix and Hulu, nabbing exclusive rights to past, current, and future seasons of the show.

    A week or so later, Amazon announced that they will be the exclusive streaming home to CBS’ upcoming drama Under the Dome. Episodes of the new series, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, will become available just three days after they air.

  • Amazon Steals Downton Abbey From Netflix & Hulu – Past, Present, and Future

    Amazon Steals Downton Abbey From Netflix & Hulu – Past, Present, and Future

    As of right now, you can watch the hit Masterpiece Classic show Downton Abbey on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Instant Video. Some time this year, that will no longer be the case.

    Amazon has just announced a deal with PBS Distribution that will make Prime Instant Video the only place that Downton Fans will be able to stream the show.

    Eventually. Amazon will have exclusive rights to Downton Abbey Season 3 (currently airing) on June 18th, and will gain exclusive rights to the other two seasons “later this year.” No specifics on the actual date that you’ll see Downton disappear from Netflix and Hulu.

    Not only that, but Amazon is keeping Downton out of the hands of Netflix and Hulu for the foreseeable future. Prime Instant Video will continue to be the exclusive subscription home of season 4 and season 5, if that actually becomes a thing.

    “Our Prime customers have spoken—they can’t get enough of the MASTERPIECE CLASSIC series ‘Downton Abbey.’ The series is consistently in our top most watched TV shows each week, making it the most popular TV series with Prime Instant Video customers, ever,” said Brad Beale, Director of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon. “Prime Instant Video will soon be the exclusive subscription video streaming home for ‘Downton Abbey.’”

    This is a big move by Amazon to secure the rights to an extremely popular show. Locking up exclusive rights to Downton Abbey’s past, present, and future is a pretty good wallop to other streaming services – a scheme that Thomas could surely approve of.

  • Amazon, CBS Expand Content Deal to Bring More Shows to Prime Instant Video

    Amazon, CBS Expand Content Deal to Bring More Shows to Prime Instant Video

    Amazon and CBS have just announced an expanded content agreement that will see even more of the network’s programming become available on Amazon’s Prime Instant Video service (Amazon and CBS already have a deal for some of the network’s catalog).

    The new, expanded deal will see CBS and Showtime content like America’s Next Top Model, Everybody Loves Raymond, Jericho, The L Word, Undercover Boss, United States of Tara, and more hit Prime Instant Video.

    “CBS was one of our earliest content partners for Prime Instant Video and our Prime customers have consistently told us how much they love having access to great CBS and Showtime shows,” said Brad Beale, Director of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon. “Adding a wider selection of great TV series, while extending our already popular selection of CBS programming, continues to make Prime an even better deal for customers – and we love that.”

    This announcement comes on the heels of another one involving Amazon and CBS. Earlier this week we learned that Amazon Prime had snatched up the rights to stream CBS’ upcoming show Under the Dome, exclusively, as it airs (4 days after original airing). Under the Dome is based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name It centers on a small New England town that is suddenly cut off from the rest of the world by an giant, transparent dome. It’s being produced by Steve Spielberg’s Amblin Television and will premiere on CBS on June 24th.

    Amazon also recently made a move to steal PBS’ Downton Abbey (past, present, and future episodes) away from Netflix and Hulu.

  • Amazon Grabs Exclusive Streaming Rights to CBS’ ‘Under the Dome’

    Amazon Grabs Exclusive Streaming Rights to CBS’ ‘Under the Dome’

    Amazon has just landed another exclusive content deal for its Prime Instant Video service. This time it’s the upcoming CBS drama Under the Dome.

    Here are the specifics of the deal: Just four days after each episode airs on CBS, they will pop up on Amazon Prime Instant Video. The episodes will be available to stream on CBS.com, but only for the first three days after airing.

    Under the Dome is based on a 2009 Stephen Kings novel of the same name that’s about a small New England town that is suddenly cut off from the rest of the world by an giant, transparent dome. It’s being produced by Steve Spielberg’s Amblin Television and will premiere on CBS on June 24th.

    “With creative forces of Stephen King and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television behind Under the Dome, we think our customers will love this new show and we’re excited to be able to offer this highly-anticipated series at no additional cost to Prime members,” said Brad Beale, Director of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon. “Adding a current season major network TV series like Under the Dome to the Prime Instant Video library so shortly after its live airing enables us to increase our exclusive selection of great TV shows and give customers access how, when and where they want to watch it.”

    Last week, Amazon made another big play when they stole Downton Abbey away from Netflix and Hulu. Per that deal, Prime Instant Video will be the only subscription-based streaming service where viewers can watch episodes of Downton Abbey – past, present, and future (starting some time this year).

  • ‘Zombieland’ Original Series Coming to Amazon Prime

    ‘Zombieland’ Original Series Coming to Amazon Prime

    Someone find Tallahassee some Twinkies (although it may be even harder now).

    Fans of Zombies, the film Zombieland, and streaming video services should be happy with news coming out of the world of all three today. According to reports, Amazon has snatched up the rights to Zombieland, the TV series.

    Presumably, that means that we can expect some sort of streaming setup to be delivered via Amazon Prime Instant Video or simply Amazon Prime (if Amazon decides it wants to charge per episode). The report from Broadcast Now suggests that the show would be streamed in 30-minute episodes, and previous leaked casting documents obtained by io9 suggests that the series will center around the characters you know and love from the film.

    Previous reports had the Zombieland TV series landing on CBS as some point, but it looks as though Amazon is going to handle the production.

    As Amazon fights with streaming competitors like Netflix for your monthly streaming service budget, they will have to increasingly focus on original content, not just making content deals. Netflix is poised to have a pretty big year when in this respect. In just a few weeks, the David Fincher/Kevin Spacey political drama House of Cards will drop on Netflix.

    And in April, horror master Eli Roth’s original series Hemlock Grove debuts exclusively on Netflix.

    And even though it’s technically not a Netflix original, the Netflix-exclusive series Arrested Development is coming in May.

    We’re excited to see the zombie/comedy series in Amazon’s (hopefully) capable hands. You shouldn’t expect it any time soon, however, as casting calls just went out last week for Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita, and Little Rock (the characters, not the cities).

    [Broadcast Now via io9]

  • Amazon Prime Lands in Canada Sans Instant Video

    Canada, I’ve some good news and some bad news. What do you want to hear first? Ok, let’s go with the good.

    The good news is that Amazon is finally bringing their Amazon Prime subscription service to Canada. The bad news is that it’s a nerfed version of the service that still retains the same price tag.

    The Canadian version of Amazon Prime offers the same free two-day shipping and discounted one-day shipping (with no minimum purchase) that we’re accustomed to here in the States. The only problem is that Canadian Amazon Prime subscribers will not have access to two pretty huge perks: Kindle ebook lending and Prime Instant Video.

    According to the Canadian Press, Amazon.ca’s Steve Oliver says that there are no plans to brings these options to the Canadian Prime service.

    “We are proud to bring Amazon Prime to Canada,” said Steve Oliver, country manager for Amazon.ca. “Amazon Prime offers its members the convenience of fast, free shipping on millions of eligible items, whether the order is for a single DVD or a kitchen mixer. There is no minimum purchase amount and no need to consolidate orders, so Canadians from coast-to-coast can enjoy a simpler, faster shopping experience.”

    Yes, but $79 (CAD) a year (which is roughly the same price we pay here in the U.S.), some Canadians may expect more than shipping perks. Although, if you buy enough from Amazon, the shipping perks are more than enough to justify the subscription fee.

    Amazon is looking to entice Canadians with a free month of the service, which they can sign up for here.

  • Amazon Instant Video Finder Launches in Beta

    Amazon Instant Video Finder Launches in Beta

    While it’s not a personalized recommendation engine, Amazon has unveiled a tool that should make it easier for users to browse content and find something to watch.

    Amazon has just announced that they’ve opened up their Instant Video Finder Beta, which allows users to browse TV and film selections based on a variety of categories.

    The Instant Video Finder sports all of the categories you’d expect – drama, action, thriller, sci-fi, etc. But there are some interesting groupings that make for some interesting finds. Categories like this include Nonlinear, Dsytopian, TOugh Guy, and Tech Noir.

    The beta tool allows you to limit your browsing to Prime Instant videos (the free ones with a membership), as well as simply TV shows or simply movies. For those browsing for something to watch with their kids, you can limit the selection to “rated G or PG.”

    Amazon Prime now sports over 33,000 titles. The company just inked a deal with A+E Networks to bring popular content from channels like A&E, bio, History, and Lifetime to their catalog.

  • Amazon Inks Prime Deal with A+E Networks for Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, and More

    Amazon Inks Prime Deal with A+E Networks for Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, and More

    Amazon has just announced another licensing agreement to bring more content to its Prime Instant Video service. This time it’s A+E Networks.

    “In a year we have more than doubled the Prime Instant Video selection for our Prime members,” said Brad Beale, Director of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon. “We remain focused on adding TV episodes and movies to Prime Instant Video that we think our customers will enjoy. A+E Networks has some of the most popular shows on television and we know our customers will love streaming the A+E content with Prime Instant Video.”

    The A+E Networks deal will bring prior season of shows from channels like A&E, bio, History, and Lifetime – including the networks’ highest-rated programming like Pawn Stars, Storage Wars and Dance Moms.

    Amazon boasts that their Prime Instant Video catalog (free with Amazon Prime subscription) now boasts over 33,000 titles.

    Just a couple of weeks ago, Amazon inked a deal with Turner Broadcasting System and Warner Bros to bring two popular TNT drama to Prime Instant Video – The Closer and Falling Skies.

    And a few months ago, Amazon made the biggest content acquisition in recent memory for Prime Instant Video when they made a deal with EPIX, a joint venture between major studios Viacom (Paramount), MGM, and Lionsgate. At the time, the claimed that brought their title count to over 25,000 – so Amazon Prime Instant Video has grown in over 8,000 titles in the past few months.

  • Amazon Prime Adds TNT Dramas to Its Catalog

    Amazon has just announced a new licensing agreement with Turner Broadcasting System and Warner Bros to bring two popular cable dramas to their Prime Instant Video catalog.

    Starting today, Amazon Prime members will be able to watch all current episodes of the two TNT dramas The Closer and Falling Skies.

    “We are pleased to offer Falling Skies to Amazon Prime members,” said Deborah K. Bradley, Senior Vice President of Program Acquisitions for Turner Broadcasting. “Subscription-on-demand services continue to grow in the consumer marketplace, and this deal represents a way to help expand our viewership from TV Everywhere and introduce a wider audience to this hit series.”

    TNT’s The Closer was crowned the #1 show on basic cable five times, and Falling Skies was also popular over the summer, hitting #1 in some demographics. Users will have access to all 109 episodes of The Closer and the first two seasons of Falling Skies, which just ended season two back in August. The deal also covers future seasons of Falling Skies, the next of which will debut in 2013.

    “Today’s agreements with TNT and Warner Bros. Domestic TV add two great TV series to Prime Instant Video,” said Brad Beale, Director of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon. “Falling Skies and The Closer are some of Turner’s most-watched and highly talked about series and we’re happy to offer them exclusively for Prime members to enjoy. Amazon Prime just got even better.”

    Amazon boasts that their Prime Instant Video catalog currently has over 30,000 movies and TV episodes. Amazon just recently launched their Instant Video app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, so you can now watch there TNT dramas on your smaller iDevices.

  • Amazon Launches Instant Video App on the Smaller iDevices, Adds Cloud Player App to Samsung TVs & Roku

    Amazon Launches Instant Video App on the Smaller iDevices, Adds Cloud Player App to Samsung TVs & Roku

    Amazon had just announced a few moves to expand the accessibility of content across multiple devices – bringing their streaming video app to the iPhone as well as Cloud Player apps to two new devices.

    Previously only available for the iPad, Amazon’s Instant Video app is now ready for download on your iPhone and iPod Touch.

    Amazon Prime members now have access to over 30,000 streaming titles on their smaller iOS devices, including hit TV shows like American Horror Story and Downton Abbey. Customers of Amazon Instant Video can now purchase from a library of over 140,000 movies and TV shows from their iPhone and iPod Touch.

    The app has added a “Watchlist” feature, which “lets customers make a list of all the movies and TV episodes they want to watch in the future, regardless of whether they own the video or not.”

    “Our customers tell us they want the convenience of being able to watch all of their movies and TV episodes, wherever they are,” said Anthony Bay, Amazon.com Vice President for Video. “Today we’re excited to extend our ‘buy once, enjoy everywhere’ approach to iPhone and iPod touch users, giving customers the chance to enjoy more than 140,000 titles from Amazon Instant Video and more than 30,000 titles from Prime Instant Video anytime, anywhere.”

    Amazon has also announced a new Cloud Player app for Samsung Smart TVs, making it easier for users to access their music from any location.

    “The Amazon Cloud Player app, which can be found in the Samsung Smart Hub, provides customers with the ability to browse, search or playback music from their library directly on their TVs,” says Amazon.

    The Amazon Cloud Player has also dropped on Roku The Roku blog details the new features of the app:

    “Shuffle play an album, all songs from an artist, all songs within a genre, a playlist or even all songs; Search for any album, artist or song in your account; Enjoy your music collection in high-quality 256 Kbps audio; View song details and album art on a smooth scrolling screensaver; Continue playback while browsing and quickly access the “Now Playing” song through a shortcut”

    More ways to access your Amazon content – never a bad thing.

  • Amazon Offers $3 Credit to Patient Prime Members

    If you’re an Amazon Prime member and plan on doing a lot of holiday shopping on the site this year, you may want to get started early. That way, you can benefit from the expanded “No-Rush Delivery” option that Amazon is attaching to eligible items.

    As you know, Amazon Prime members pay $79 a year to receive free two-day shipping (among other things like streaming media). Last year, Amazon introduced a “no-rush delivery” option for Prime customers that allowed them to choose standard 5-7 day shipping, for a reward. That reward was a $1 credit to spend at the Amazon MP3 Store.

    Now, Amazon has upped the ante by offering a $3 credit for movies and music on select items if you choose the no-rush delivery option.

    If you’re looking to use this option, here’s what you need to know:

    Prime members may also have the option to choose Free No-Rush Shipping during checkout. You may want to select No-Rush Shipping if you don’t need your items right away. Items will typically be delivered a week after you order them.

    Promotional credit in either the Amazon Instant Video Store or the Amazon MP3 Store may be offered for selecting No-Rush Shipping. If so, the credit will be automatically applied to your Amazon.com account once the first package from a No-Rush Shipping-eligible order ships. We’ll send you an e-mail as soon as the credit is available for you to use. You may select No-Rush Shipping as many times as it’s offered to you, but you will not be eligible for the credit if you cancel your No-Rush Shipping order or return items from it.

    Earlier this month, Amazon allowed some users to sign up for Amazon Prime on a monthly basis. The $7.99-a-month options wound up costing users more over the course of a whole year, but would have allowed people more flexibility. A few days later, Amazon confirmed that it was merely a test, and that they would be disallowing the monthly subscription option.

    [via Business Insider, Image via Muhammad Saleem]

  • Amazon Ends Monthly Pricing Option for Amazon Prime

    Amazon Ends Monthly Pricing Option for Amazon Prime

    In a move that suggested that Amazon was looking to more-directly compete with other monthly-charged streaming video services like Netflix and Hulu, the company recently unveiled a new pricing option for their Amazon Prime service. Some users were seeing an option to signup for a free trial, which would then turn into a $7.99 a month plan.

    Until that new pricing option appeared, Amazon Prime had only been available at the $79 a year price tag.

    Well, you can say goodbye to that option. Less than two weeks after Amazon began testing that subscription style, the company has axed it.

    “We regularly test new options for our customers. At this time, we’ve completed our test and are no longer signing up new customers for Amazon Prime monthly memberships,” they told All Things D.

    So it’s clear that it was only a test.

    A subscription to Amazon Prime not only includes access the streaming video catalog, but also the Kindle Owners Lending Library and free two-day shipping on products. Although $7.99 a month would turn out to be more in the end (if you kept it for a year), that plan was more flexible, allowing customers to subscribe to the service without making a (fairly substantial) $79 commitment all at once.

  • Amazon Testing New Pricing Option For Amazon Prime

    Amazon Prime is a pretty good deal if you’re in it for the year’s worth of free shipping. The service has become much more than that, however, in the years since its inception. Now Amazon Prime throws in Amazon Instant Video and the massive Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. The service is tempting, but the $79/year price tag may not be justifiable to the family on a budget.

    Amazon has apparently realized that Prime may be too much for some consumers, and is now offering a “cheaper” $7.99/ month option. Hacking Netflix reports that the new $7.99 option is showing up on some consumer’s Prime sign-up page. I’m already a Prime subscriber, but I signed out to see if the new price showed up.

    Amazon Testing New Pricing Option For Amazon Prime

    The new price showed up for me, but it’s reportedly not showing up for everybody just yet. One report from Gigaom even said that the new pricing option only showed up in a particular browser, while it wasn’t showing up in another.

    It’s not clear if this is a new permanent pricing option, or just a test. We’ve reached out to Amazon for comment and we’ll update if we hear back. For now, we can only speculate as to what it means.

    It’s pretty obvious that the new pricing option would allow Amazon to better compete with other streaming services like Netflix and Hulu Plus. Amazon Instant Video has a pretty good selection of titles, but it’s the other services on offer that may bring in subscribers. The Kindle Lending Library and free two-day shipping may just convince Netflix and Hulu subscribers to switch, especially if they frequently buy products from Amazon.

    All of this is just speculation for now though. We won’t know anything until Amazon clarifies the new pricing scheme.

  • Reed Hastings on Why Netflix is Better Than Amazon Prime, Hulu

    Reed Hastings on Why Netflix is Better Than Amazon Prime, Hulu

    Amazon has added a ton of content to its Prime Instant Video service over the last few months, and that may have put Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on the offensive.

    In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Hastings took a not-so-subtle dig at Amazon by describing their Prime video service as a “confusing mess.” He also reiterated that Netflix spends more on content, and that has resulted in Netflix actually having much more content that its competitors.

    Here’s the relevant excerpt:

    In the U.S., our content budget is about three times [Amazon’s], and we’ve got about three times more content. And what our customers tell us is they want Netflix to have more content, not to have two-thirds less at a lower price. That’s not that interesting a proposition for them. [Amazon has its Prime membership service] and it’s really about low-cost shipping, but why is video in there? It’s kind of a confusing mess.

    We can do a better user experience on video because it’s our only business. The way we do algorithms to choose which content is shown to you is much better than Amazon’s, much better than Hulu’s. They’ve got talented teams, but they’re doing a lot of other things and we’re focused on this one area.

    Them fightin’ words.

    Hastings main point: Netflix is all about streaming video, and because we’re focused on that one thing, we can do it better. Not sure how that argument stacks up with Hulu, but oh well.

    As I mentioned above, Amazon has been pretty busy adding content to their Prime service. In the past few weeks, they’ve inked deals with ESPN, NBCUniversal, and EPIX. According to Amazon, the service now boasts over 22,000 titles.

    [WSJ via CNET]

  • Amazon Adds Thousands of Titles to Prime Instant Video through EPIX Deal

    Amazon Adds Thousands of Titles to Prime Instant Video through EPIX Deal

    Another week, another announcement from Amazon that they’ve beefed up the content offerings on their Prime Instant video service.

    Today the company has announced an agreement with EPIX, the premium on-demand service that’s a joint venture between Viacom (Paramount), MGM, and Lionsgate. This deal will bring the total amount of movies and TV episodes available on the service to well over 25,000. Amazon says that’s double the titles available when they launched the Kindle Fire last September.

    Here are some of the movies that are coming along with the EPIX deal:

    The Avengers, Iron Man 2, The Hunger Games, Transformers Dark of the Moon, Thor, Rango, Kick Ass, Paranormal Activity 2, True Grit, The Lincoln Lawyer, and Justin Bieber Never Say Never. The EPIX deal will also bring original content like Kevin Smith: Burn in Hell and Usher: Live from London.

    “We are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to expand the Prime Instant Video library for our customers. We have now more than doubled this selection of movies and TV episodes to over 25,000 titles in just under a year,” said Bill Carr, Vice President of Video and Music at Amazon. “We are thrilled to be able to offer our customers such popular EPIX titles, many of which were just recently in theaters. We can tell from the data that our customers love watching movies on Prime Instant Video. We think customers will really enjoy watching new titles like The Avengers, Iron Man 2 and The Hunger Games on their Kindle Fire, PlayStation 3, Xbox, iPad or any of the other of the Amazon Instant Video compatible devices.”

    In the last couple of weeks, Amazon has announced deals with ESPN and NBCUniversal that will bring content like the 30 for 30 docu-series as well as TV dramas like Battlestar Galactica and Heroes to the streaming library.

    And just last week, Amazon dropped some promotional figures for the Prime Instant Video service. One of those statistics said that there we just over 22,000 Prime streaming titles available to subscribers. That means that this EPIX deal boosted the available content by at least a few thousand titles.

  • Amazon Touts Prime Service With Boatload of Stats

    Today Amazon released a ‘look how awesome our Prime service is doing” update, and as a part of that self-promotion effort also gave us some pretty interesting stats about the seven-year-old program.

    First, Amazon is happy to announced that Prime has hit a significant milestone. As of today, more items are shipped using Prime’s free two-day shipping benefit than Amazon’s older free Super Saver Shipping initiative. If it’s been awhile since you’ve made a purchase on Amazon, the Super Saver Shipping offers free shipping on any order over $25. Amazon says that they’ve extended the amount of products offered via Prime Two-Day Shipping to 15 million.

    Some more interesting facts about Prime Free Two-Day Shipping?

    • The top two most-shipped items are the Kindle Fire and the original Kindle.  Amazon says that the first book in the Fifty Shades of Grey series is number four.
    • If you’re a member of Amazon Prime, you could ship 500 products through Two-Day Shipping every day for the rest of your life and still not ship every product available.

    And of course, Amazon Prime is not only about free shipping. There’s that whole streaming video platform element to it. Here are some stats about Prime Instant Video:

    • In a given week, 96.4 percent of the Prime Instant Video catalog is viewed.
    • The number of titles available for unlimited streaming through Prime Instant Video has increased from roughly 5,000 titles at launch to over 22,000 today. Just this year alone, the title count has grown from 13,000 to over 22,000, an increase of 70 percent.
    • The most watched TV show available through Prime Instant Video is Downton Abbey Season 1.
    • The most watched movie available through Prime Instant Video is The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (English Subtitled).

    Also, the most borrowed book in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library is The Hunger Games, which just ousted Harry Potter as the most popular series on Amazon (in terms of total purchases, both print and Kindle).

    “Since Amazon launched in 1995, we’ve been focused on growing selection for our customers. Following the introduction of Amazon Prime in 2005, we’ve worked hard to grow Prime selection as well. We’re incredibly proud to be able to offer more than 15 million Prime items today. We’ve also grown the Prime Instant Video library to more than 22,000 movies and TV episodes, all with unlimited streaming, and Prime members can borrow more than 180,000 books for free, with no due dates, using the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library – that’s up from roughly 5,000 when the program launched less than a year ago,” said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

    Last week, Amazon announced a few new content partnerships for Prime Instant Video. One will bring sports documentaries including ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, and the other beefs up NBCUniversal content like Battlestar Galactica & Parks and Recreation.

  • Amazon Prime Instant Video Adds Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, and More through NBCUniversal Deal

    Amazon Prime Instant Video Adds Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, and More through NBCUniversal Deal

    So say we all.

    Amazon is a busy little bee when it comes to adding content to their streaming platform, Prime Instant Video. Earlier this week, they announced that ESPN’s acclaimed docu-series 30 for 30 was coming to Prime Instant Video along with other sports-related programming. And now, an expanded licensing agreement with NBCUniversal will bring hundreds of additional episodes of popular TV shows to the service.

    The expanded deal will bring previous seasons of shows like Parks and Recreation, Parenthood, Friday Night Lights, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, and many more to Prime Instant Video.

    “We are excited to be working with NBCUniversal to add their award-winning lineup of TV shows such as Parks and Recreation and Friday Night Lights to Prime Instant Video,” said Brad Beale, Director of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon. “We continue to invest heavily in our content selection for Prime members, and have now reached over 22,000 movies and TV episodes available instantly with unlimited streaming.”

    And a hint of more to come?

    “We are thrilled to have several of our iconic programs available to subscribers of Amazon Prime, a service focused on the best possible consumer experience,” said Frances Manfredi, President, Cable & New Media Distribution for NBCUniversal. “We look forward to further expanding NBCU’s content offering available to Prime subscribers in the near future.”

    This deal makes it a big year in terms of content for Amazon Prime. Earlier, Amazon inked deals with Discovery Communications, MGM, and Warner Bros.

  • ESPN’s 30 for 30 Sports Docu-Series Coming to Amazon Prime Instant Video

    ESPN’s 30 for 30 Sports Docu-Series Coming to Amazon Prime Instant Video

    In a landscape packed with legitimate streaming video heavyweights, Amazon is looking to make their Prime instant Video service more attractive with the addition of new content – this time from the sports and documentary genres.

    Today, the company announced that they had reached an expanded licensing agreement to bring ESPN’s critically acclaimed, fan favorite series 30 for 30 to Prime Instant Video.

    30 for 30 originally aired from October 2009 to December 2010. The series featured 30 stories from around the sports world, all taking place during the “ESPN era.” Episodes featured stories about icons like Wayne Gretzky, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson, as well as compelling profiles of some lesser known figures and professional & collegiate programs. The series was then spun-off into another docu-series, ESPN Films Presents:.

    Amazon Prime is also grabbing some additional sports documentaries as part of the agreement:

    “We’re continuing to grow our Prime Instant Video library to provide our Amazon Prime Members with all the content they want – from feature films, to hit TV episodes to documentaries, and everything in between,” said Brad Beale, director of digital video content acquisition for Amazon. “With the addition of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, film lovers and sports fans will have instant access to enjoy compelling sports stories from talented and thoughtful film makers including, ‘The U,’ ‘Pony Excess’ and ‘Winning Time.’”

    According to Amazon, this bumps up the total offerings of Prime Instant Video to over 22,000. Back in March, Amazon inked a deal with Discovery Communications to bring Discovery Channel, TLC, and Animal Planet content to Amazon Prime. In June, they announced a deal that would bring hundreds of classic MGM movies to the service. And last month, Amazon partnered with Warner Bros. to bring shows like The West Wing and Fringe to Prime.

  • Amazon Gets First Dibs On Streaming Fringe And The West Wing

    Amazon is emerging as a major powerhouse in the video streaming business. Amazon Prime Instant Video is expanding at a faster rate than Netflix did in its early years and just scored a major deal with Warner Bros. for their television content.

    Amazon announced today that they have entered into an agreement that will bring Warner Bros. television content to Amazon Prime Instant Video including popular shows like The West Wing and Fringe. Other shows include Dark Blue, Alcatraz and The Whole Truth.

    “Since launching Prime Instant Video, we’ve continued to expand both the quantity and quality of video content for our Prime members,” said Brad Beale, director of digital video content acquisition for Amazon. “Bringing Fringe and The West Wing – two shows with a devoted fan base – to Prime Instant Video first, is another way for us to add value for Prime members and to continue to give customers content they love.”

    Fringe and The West Wing will be exclusive to Amazon Prime Instant Video for the summer. The shows should show up on other services like Netflix in the fall. Still, it’s a pretty big win for Amazon. Convincing people to fork over $79 for a year of Amazon Prime is pretty difficult, but adding exclusive content makes it far more enticing.

    People who want to catch up on Fringe or The West Wing can watch them on the PC, Kindle Fire, Xbox 360, PS3 and Roku. Amazon will probably be adding streaming apps to other devices over time. We’ll probably even see Amazon Prime Instant Video show up on or near the launch of the Wii U this fall.

  • Tons Of Classic MGM Movies Are Coming To Amazon Prime

    Tons Of Classic MGM Movies Are Coming To Amazon Prime

    If you’re stil on the fence about ponying up the $79 a year for Amazon Prime, the company hopes that a new deal with MGM is the kind of motivation you’re looking for.

    Film fans with Amazon Prime memberships will now be able to enjoy hundreds of classic movies and TV episodes courtesy of a deal between Amazon and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. The movies will appear as Prime Instant Video offerings – which means that Prime members can watch them at no additional cost.

    “Our customers tell us they love having tons of movies and TV shows to choose from, which is why we are focused on adding even more titles to our already extensive Prime Instant Video library,” said Brad Beale, director of digital video content acquisition for Amazon, and “MGM offers one of the most distinguished catalogs in all of Hollywood.”

    The deal brings films like Silence of the Lambs, The Terminator, Dances with Wolves, and Rain Man to Prime Instant video. Unfortunately, customers won’t receive all of the new additions at once – as they’ll be rolling out over the course of 2012.

    These MGM additions bring the grand total to 18,000 movies and TV episodes that are available for “free” through Prime Instant video. Just last month, Amazon inked a similar deal with Paramount Pictures that brought other big-name films like Braveheart and Forrest Gump to the service. Plus, Xbox 360 users will be able to enjoy these classic films through a newly launched app.