Amazon Video

Amazon Video

Type	Subsidiary of Amazon.com
Industry	Electronic commerce
Area served	United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Austria
Parent	Amazon.com
Website	www.amazon.com/video

Amazon Video, or Amazon Instant Video (formerly Amazon Unbox and Amazon Video on Demand in the US, and LoveFilm Instant in Europe), is an Internet video on demand (VOD) service by Amazon in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Austria, Germany and soon India.^[1] It offers television shows and films for rental or purchase. Selected titles are offered for free to customers with an Amazon Prime subscription, a move that angered some UK consumers when it was bundled with a non-negotiable 61% increase in the subscription fee.^[2] Like competitors, Amazon has pursued a number of exclusive content deals to differentiate its service. Most recently, Amazon reached a multi-year licensing deal with content provider HBO.^[3]

History

The US service debuted on September 7, 2006, as Amazon Unbox.^[4] On September 4, 2008, the service was renamed Amazon Video on Demand. The Unbox name still refers to the locally installed player,^[5][6] which as of August 2014 is no longer available for downloading purchased instant videos. On February 22, 2011, Amazon rebranded as Amazon Instant Video and added access to 5,000 movies and TV shows for Amazon Prime members.^[7][8] On September 4, 2012, Amazon signed a deal with pay-TV channel Epix to feature movies on their streaming service, in a move to rival their competitor Netflix.^[9] Additionally, in November 2013, Amazon premiered the comedies Alpha House and Betas, which are original series available exclusively online via the Prime Instant Video service. Amazon offered the first three episodes of both series at once for free, with each subsequent episode released weekly thereafter for Prime members.^[10]

In February 2014, Amazon announced that the streaming service of its UK subsidiary LoveFilm would be folded into the Instant Video service on 26 February 2014.^[11][12] In January 2015, Transparent became the first show produced by Amazon Studios to win a major award and the first series from a streaming video service to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.^[13]

On July 30, 2015, Amazon announced that they had hired Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May to produce an Untitled Amazon motoring show for Amazon Prime Video. Jeff Bezos nor Amazon.com have not stated how much Clarkson, Hammond, or May are being paid to produce the programme via their production company W. Chump & Sons, but Jeff Bezos stated that the deal was "very expensive, but worth it". ^[14] The budget for the show has not officially been announced, but Andy Wilman, the former executive producer of Top Gear stated that each episode would have a budget of around £4.5 million, 9x larger than Top Gear's budget. ^[15] The new show is reportedly set to air in the Autumn of 2016.

In September 2015 the word "Instant" was dropped from its title in the US, and it was re-branded simply as Amazon Video.^[16]

Compatibility

Amazon Video is available on numerous compatible devices. This includes a number of smart TVs and Blu-ray players such as 2010 or later Samsung and LG models, as well as consoles like the PlayStation 3,^[17] PlayStation 4, the Xbox 360,^[18] Xbox One, Wii, Wii U, and mobile devices like the iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets,^[19] Kindle Fire tablets and the Fire Phone. The service is also available through streaming devices such as Roku^[20] (except in UK) and Amazon's Fire TV.^[21] Amazon Video's app for iOS devices is compatible with Apple TV via AirPlay.^[22][23]

Video quality

Depending on the device, Amazon supports up to 1080p (HD) streaming with 5.1 Dolby Digital or Dolby Digital Plus audio. For titles that are only available for purchase (and not included in a customer's Amazon Prime subscription), the HD option is often offered at an additional price. Amazon Video supports 4K (UHD) and High Dynamic Range (HDR) streaming, beginning with its original content.^[24]

Requirements

Amazon Video is currently only available to residents of the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and Austria.^[25] Customers of Amazon Video can stream on the web using an HTML5 player supported in the Chrome, IE11 and Microsoft Edge browsers, or using Microsoft Silverlight^[26] in Firefox.

Use on various TVs, Blu-ray players and consoles (including Panasonic, LG, Samsung and other TVs) requires a broadband connection. Amazon Video is also available on recent PlayStation, Xbox, Wii and Wii U video game consoles.

On October 1, 2015, Amazon announced that Google Chromecast and Apple TV products were banned from sale on its online marketplace effective October 29, 2015. Amazon argued that this was to reduce "customer confusion", as these devices do not support the Amazon Video ecosystem.^[27]

Points of Differentiation

• Many titles are also available for rental or purchase, often hours after broadcast on TV. This contrasts with subscription-only based providers like Netflix, where customers may need to wait several months or more to view content.
• In addition to shows from mainstream networks (CBS, FOX, and NBC), Amazon Video sells television series from the BBC, MTV, BRAVO, and the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS). Amazon also sells more obscure television series such as Giant Robo (also known as Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot), a 1960s Japanese television show popular in the U.S. in the early 1970s.
• Beginning with the 2007–08 television season, Amazon Video became the exclusive provider of NBC content, replacing iTunes as the delivery mechanism for these shows.^[28] NBC Universal later signed a new distribution agreement with Apple starting with the 2008–09 season and started distributing some of its shows for free on Hulu.

See also

• List of original programs distributed by Amazon

References

External links

• Official site
• Amazon App on PS3