Amazon Forge Streaming Deal With CBS
Amazon has officially beefed up its rivalry with Netflix and Hulu by securing more content for their on-demand streaming service.
The Seattle based online retailer said on Wednesday that it has reached its first deal for content licensing with major TV network CBS. that strenthens their online streaming video services.
“We’re following what our customers are doing in the marketplace,” Cameron Janes head of Amazon’s digital video. “We’re watching customers want to consume more and more of our products digitally.”
The move substantially bolsters Amazon’s streaming inventory, bringing the number of tv shows and movies available on its subscription service Prime to 8,000. They also recently beefed up the service by adding over 1,000 titles in June.
The shows include “The Tudors,” “Numb3rs,” “Medium,” “Cheers,” and the entire “Star Trek” franchise, roughly the same offerings that CBS makes available through a pact it signed with Netflix last February. The collection will be available to Their Prime members at no extra cost.
Now that Netflix has stopped offering streaming at no additional cost to DVD plan subscribers, Amazon is stepping up in hope to fill the gap.
Amazon didn’t seem to have much effect when it began to offer 5,000 videos as cost free bonuses to Prime members in February. The options were up to 6,000 last week, but the CBS deal pushes the options up to an impressive 8,000 titles.
A Barclays Capital report on Wednesday said Amazon would have to invest significant capital and incur losses to gain in the industry, though “clearly competition is ramping and we believe Netflix may be more vulnerable now given its recent pricing changes.”
It puts Amazon in a good content position for when they launch their range of tablet PC’s later this year.
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