Amazon, Warner deal brings Fringe, The West Wing to Prime Instant Video exclusively
Amazon, Warner deal brings Fringe, The West Wing to Prime Instant Video exclusively
The battle between Amazon's Prime Instant Video and Netflix Watch Instantly continues to heat up, with Amazon following up a slew of rollouts on new devices like the Xbox 360 and the addition of a queue by locking up some exclusive TV content from Warner Bros. According to the press release (included after the break) Amazon's agreement means episodes of Fringe and The West Wing will be "On Prime Instant Video First" and not on other streaming services for the summer. Stats show and Netflix has repeatedly indicated that subscribers view more TV content than movies on th ese types of services so content exclusives may become even more important differentiators. Other shows specifically named include Dark Blue, Alcatraz and The Whole Truth, hit up the Prime site to see any other less prominent names that may have escaped mention.
Show full PR text On Prime Instant Video First: Amazon Announces Digital Video License Agreement with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Bringing Acclaimed TV Shows Exclusively to Kindle Fire and Prime Customers
New licensing agreement brings Emmy award winning, The West Wing and fan favorite, Fringe to Prime Instant Video, along with other popular TV shows
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ: AMZN) – Amazon.com, Inc. today announced a licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution to add popular TV shows, including Fringe and The West Wing to the Prime Instant Video catalog. Millions of customers are already enjoying more t han 18,000 Prime Instant Videos on Kindle Fire and hundreds of other compatible devices, and this agreement adds a variety of fan-favorite TV shows including Dark Blue, Alcatraz, and The Whole Truth.
Both Fringe and The West Wing will be available exclusively on Prime Instant Video for the summer, giving Prime members and Kindle Fire customers exclusive access to favorite titles that have been previously unavailable. Prime Instant Video includes more than 18,000 movies and TV episodes available for Prime members to instantly stream and enjoy at no additional cost. To start watching Prime Instant Video now, visit www.amazon.com/PIV. Customers who are not Prime members can enjoy a free one month trial of Prime and all Kindle Fire customers enjoy a free month of Prime right out of the box.
"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 digit al 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."
"We are thrilled to count Amazon as a digital distribution outlet for our television group," said Ken Werner, President, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. "As more and more television content is enjoyed by fans across a myriad of subscription channels and platforms and on numerous devices from televisions to tablets, deals such as this give consumers the opportunity to discover, catch-up, or simply enjoy a favorite series again and again."
Prime customers can access Prime Instant Video on Kindle Fire or any of the hundreds of compatible Amazon Instant Video devices, including the Roku, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gaming console. For a list of compatible Amazon Instant Vide o devices visit here.
About Amazon Instant Video
Amazon Instant Video is a digital video streaming and download service that offers Amazon customers the ability to rent, purchase or subscribe to a huge catalog of videos. Customers can choose from more than 120,000 titles to purchase or rent and content ranges from new release movies to classic favorites, major television shows, entire seasons, or even day after air TV. Prime Instant Video is Amazon's video subscription offer-it includes more than 18,000 movies and TV episodes selected from the full assortment available at Amazon Instant Video. This subscription offer allows US Prime customers to stream as many Prime Instant Videos as they like, at no additional cost.
About Prime
Amazon Prime is an annual membership program for $ 79 a year that offers customers unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items including books, home and garden products, elec tronics, video games, clothing, and much more. Amazon Prime members also get access to unlimited instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV episodes and access to tens of thousands of books to borrow for free, as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates from a Kindle device. Customers who receive free Prime shipping benefits through our Amazon Student or Amazon Mom programs can upgrade to an annual paid membership to receive Amazon Prime's digital benefits.
About Warner Bros Domestic Television Distribution:
Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (WBDTD) is one of the leading suppliers of entertainment programming to the domestic television marketplace, distributing first-run syndicated series, off-network television programs and theatrical motion pictures to local broadcast television stations, as well as to pay, cable, satellite, broadcast networks and digital platforms throughout the U.S. WBDTD handles the domestic distr ibution of television series produced by Warner Bros. Television, Telepictures Productions, Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Horizon Television; selected HBO Independent Productions and the Lorimar Television library; current feature films from Warner Bros. Pictures; and the Studio's unmatched motion picture library.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon's developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes – still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle Fire is the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, ma gazines, apps, games and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon's new revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core processor.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, and www.amazon.es. As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that in clude, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
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