Amazon, Viacom Announce New Streaming Content Partnership For Prime Instant Video

Amazon.com is expanding its selection of streaming video offerings for premium subscribers.

On Wednesday, the online retail giant announced a new content partnership with Viacom that will add around 2,000 titles to the catalogue currently offered under the Amazon Prime Instant Video streaming service.

Amazon will give its streaming subscribers access to TV shows from MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Spike, VH1, BET, CMT and Logo. According to a press release published by Amazon, the new selection will include past seasons of popular shows such as Jersey Shore, Chappelle's Show, Hot in Cleveland, Yo Gabba Gabba, iCarly and more.

Amazon's Instant Video service is available to customers who pay for the company's $79-per-year Prime membership, which also offers free two-day shipping on items purchased through Amazon's retail business. Instant Video lets customers stream movies and TV episodes from partners like CBS, Fox, PBS, NBCUniversal, Sony, Warner Bros, Disney-ABC Television and now Viacom, among others. Users who don't subscribe to Prime can also rent or buy single titles from Amazon's downloadable content catalogue.

"Over the last year we have received fantastic customer feedback about Prime Instant Video. We are constantly working to improve the service by adding the shows that our customers enjoy the most,” said Brad Beale, director of video content acquisition for Amazon, per the company release. “We now offer more than 15,000 movies and TV shows in Prime Instant Videos and are working hard to add even more great content.”

The retail giant said that in the fourth quarter of 2011, the number of Instant Video streams increased 300 percent over results from the third quarter, that the number of Instant Video customers doubled, and that the number of titles rented or bought also doubled.

The launch of the Kindle Fire, which offers a free month of Prime Instant Video, may have affected this swell in premium usage. According to CNET, one analyst estimates that Amazon may have sold between 5 and 6 million of the $199 Fire tablets .

If Amazon hopes to do real damage to Netflix in the streaming space, more announcements may be on the horizon, particularly one that may see the spinoff of Instant Video into its own service, separate from the Prime subscription. Writes Reuters, "Amazon is keen to open up its licensed library of TV programs and movies as a standalone service for non-Prime members, and to use it to boost its Kindle Fire tablet, according to people who have spoken with Amazon executives."

Comments

[TankGirlz]

12:53 PM on 02/09/2012

Just started my free trial. Cumbersome browse feature and the shows I want that netflix doesn't (Dexter for one) have either they want from $1.99 to $3.99 an episode?? I want this why? At least on my netflix I can order the season on dvd... I was feeling optimistic too, drat!

[mjbaltierra]

01:56 PM on 02/09/2012

the 1.99 and 3.99 costs are for Amazon Instant Video which is different than Amazon Prime Video

this is the definitions of the two http://amzn.to/wmjbCS

[TankGirlz]

02:34 PM on 02/09/2012

but these selections aren't offered in prime, was my point...

[Juan Contreras]

12:09 PM on 02/09/2012

If they can get the streaming on Xbox, ps3, ios android....then maybe they will have a chance. For now...exclusivity on the kindle fire, pc's and roku will not help them beat Netflix.

[TankGirlz]

05:27 PM on 02/08/2012

$80 all at once kinda sucks.

[evesluna]

05:44 PM on 02/08/2012

but you can share it with up to four people, even with different Amazon accounts! My mom, sister, and I all go in on it together and we split the cost.

[TankGirlz]

06:03 PM on 02/08/2012

ooh!

[ILoveGreatDanes]

09:10 AM on 02/09/2012

It's a lot better than paying $8/month for thousands of lousy ancient Netflix movies that I don't watch.

[TankGirlz]

11:15 AM on 02/09/2012

How to know if Amazon is any better?

[Bren55]

04:01 PM on 02/08/2012

We are doing the free month trial with Amazon Prime. Have Netflix and am not sure the free movie selection is that much different but we will try it out.

[TankGirlz]

05:28 PM on 02/08/2012

Netflix streaming isn't that great, but haven't found a great alternative either...

[liberalrepublic]

11:13 PM on 02/08/2012

i find netflix streaming better than others. it has better content than others.

[jed Houston]

09:54 PM on 02/08/2012

I use both, and like them both, but Netflix is a lot more user friendly in my opinion. One glaring example is the "recently watched' tab on Netflix. If I am watching something on my PC through Amazon, but move to the flat panel TV in the living room, it has no idea what I was watching, so I have to spell out each letter of the title on my remote control to pull it up. Also, Amazon won't automatically offer you the HD version of a title, you have to search for it and make sure that it doesn't start just playing the standard definition version for you, and I do realize that not all titles have an HD version, but many that I watch do.

[berrycuda]

03:40 PM on 02/08/2012

I don't want crummy TV.
Get us more movies.

[MarkTwo]

03:08 PM on 02/08/2012

But how many of these new channels will have TV shows from foreign countries, so Americans can see how different countreis make cop shows etc. Expose Americans to foreigh cultures so that they can learn to understand different attitudes, accents and who knows, even learn something.....?

[MC Norwood]

03:03 PM on 02/08/2012

What about The Daily Show or Colbert Report? I kind of like being intelligent and learning about politics. It's okay, I'll just watch Jersey Shore and learn how to beat people up... :(

[peachfuzz]

03:35 PM on 02/08/2012

They stream on their own sites for free.

[MC Norwood]

03:53 PM on 02/08/2012

Yeah, but they have commercials. I have Amazon Prime so any way to watch them ad-free would be appreciated.

[kjprice48906]

02:50 PM on 02/08/2012

Amazon is avalable on my Sony Bluray player.

[FTracy3]

02:38 PM on 02/08/2012

Because I don't get enough TV already, I can't tell you how excited I am that I'll be able to use Amazon to watch "Jersey Shore, Chappelle's Show, Hot in Cleveland, Yo Gabba Gabba, iCarly and more.'

[peachfuzz]

02:31 PM on 02/08/2012

So are all these new offerings under the flat rate of Prime? Because if they aren't, that's not a great value.

[Chad Wheeler]

02:46 PM on 02/08/2012

I agree- I just got a Roku and was dismayed to find how many Amazon Prime shows still cost money to watch and it was shows I wouldn't have expected, like Top Chef.

[peachfuzz]

03:17 PM on 02/08/2012

Yeah, I'm just not into buying another box -- I have a laptop near the TV and got a ten dollar cable to make the connection. It works for me.

[evesluna]

05:46 PM on 02/08/2012

Yes, flat rate. And you can share/split it with up to four different Amazon accounts.

[peachfuzz]

06:10 PM on 02/08/2012

So are you going by the notice on their site that says "no extra charge" or did you verify the new things on the site yourself? If it's true, that's cool, but I want Netflix for the classics and foreign films. Still a bigger film library with Netflix overall. But amazon may have stepped up their game a bit now. I still don't like the format for browsing as much on Amazon.

[evesluna]

06:45 PM on 02/08/2012

I'm going on my second year as a Prime member, so I'm familiar with how they charge. It's a flat rate, unless you want to see non-Prime content. Then, you can rent per episode/movie, or buy them.
I do hate the browsing on Amazon, it's not good at all. And it still doesn't come close to the content on Netflix. I just see it as an extra perk of being a Prime member. I became a member for the free 2-day shipping only.

[sylkol]

02:23 PM on 02/08/2012

Grandma Helen says: "Be aware that in addition to the $79 annual fee, you must PAY for each viewing...this is not a service that provides access to streaming at no cost beyond the annual fee." So you pay $79 and then have to pay per every stream in addition?

[Edbeason]

02:44 PM on 02/08/2012

No. Streaming is free for a large number of vids, but not all.

[Edbeason]

04:38 PM on 02/08/2012

Sorry. "Free" is the wrong word. I should say those vids I mentioned are included in the price of Amazon Prime.......unlimited streaming.

[hypergolem]

03:31 PM on 02/08/2012

The shows that come in the Amazon Prime collection are included and there is no extra cost

[Runey]

02:11 PM on 02/08/2012

partnered with viacom? that says a lot.

The one thing you can count on Amazon to do well, is buy or partner with other existing technologies or services and completely destroy them if they compete with their own interests.
Don't expect ANYTHING better than what is already out there.

See: Stanza

[Roshi98]

01:48 PM on 02/08/2012

Time for Amazon and console gaming companies to get together and work on building apps. Netflix and Hulu are already in the mix and currently Amazon only offers an arcane tethering of one's laptop in order to stream content. Why it can't simply be a native app on the console is beyond me.

[Chad Wheeler]

02:51 PM on 02/08/2012

I play Amazon Prime on my TV with a Roku that is wireless, FWIW.

[socialtalker]

01:46 PM on 02/08/2012

i wish i had known about Amazon Prime earlier. i went nuts watching say yes to the dress and american chopper past seasons, i looked on my card and counted over 100 bucks in instant video, two dollars at a time. i dont usually waste money like that. ironically i dont have the money to buy Amazon Prime now. i am going to have to save for it.

[Andre Scott]

01:35 PM on 02/08/2012

I'd like to see this added to apple tv

[passinthru2]

02:03 PM on 02/08/2012

HAhahahahahahahahahaha.....sure....you don't actually expect Apple to allow this, do you?

[Dan Pierce]

03:02 PM on 02/08/2012

Why not? They already have Netflix.

Unless, you are under the impression they make their money renting/selling iTunes movies.