Amazon is reportedly planning to launch an online TV and movie rental service, and is currently in talks with major TV and film studios. According to report in the Wall Street Journal, Amazon has approached media companies including Time Warner. with plans to start an online video subscription service to rival Netflix in the US. […]
Amazon is reportedly planning to launch an online TV and movie rental service, and is currently in talks with major TV and film studios.
According to report in the Wall Street Journal, Amazon has approached media companies including Time Warner. with plans to start an online video subscription service to rival Netflix in the US. The paper quoted three people ‘with knowledge of the talks’. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is broadening the retailer’s digital entertainment services to combat rivals such as Netflix, Hulu LLC and Apple.
The service, sold for a monthly fee by the Seattle-based Web retailer, would consist of older films and TV shows, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the conversations are private. They said talks are early and could still fall apart.
Time Warner, MTV owner Viacom and General Electric’s NBC Universal have also been contacted, the people said. Amazon.com Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is broadening the retailer’s digital entertainment services to combat rivals such as Netflix, Hulu and Apple, which distributes a range of music, TV and film through its iTunes online store.
Amazon would structure content deals in ways similar to Netflix, which pays media companies for rights to stream TV shows and films over the Web, said one of the people.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the subscription service would be accessible on Web browsers and Internet-connected TV sets, Blu-ray players and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 video-game console.
Amazon currently sells film and TV show downloads and rents movies through its website and on Roku, TiVo and Sony devices, among others. Warner Bros. is the biggest non- network producer of broadcast television shows.
