Rumor Rewind: Amazon Again Said To Be Rolling Out Ad-Supported Streaming Video Service
Rumors that Amazon was considering a streaming video service supported by ads and separate from its Prime program first surfaced back in March of this year. Nothing came of it, at least not yet, though that doesn't necessarily mean those plans are dead. These kinds of roll outs take time -- negotiations with content partners, technical details, pricing structure, etc. -- and now we're hearing that Amazon is aiming for next year.
Adding to the original story posted by The Wall Street Journal back in March, the New York Post claims Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is eager to get things rolling. The site also says this will be part of an overhaul to its media offerings, though it's not clear what else Amazon might be planning to do with regards to movies and other media.
Though the new service will be supported by ads, it won't be free. Similar to how Hulu Plus operates, there will be a subscription fee, which at least one analyst believes will be less than Netflix's current $7.99 monthly price. If that's the case, and depending on what kind of content is offered, this could be the nudge that potential cord cutters need to cancel their cable or satellite TV service. However, that's not really Amazon's goal.
"The main point is to bring in more users that you can eventually up-sell to Prime, or to get to a broader audience that doesn't want to pay for Prime, in order to increase their video share," one of the sources said.
They also said that around half of Amazon's Prime customers use the video service that's included with their memberships. With an estimated 50 million Prime subscribers, that breaks down to around 25 million people watching videos through Prime, versus Netflix's 33 million domestic subscribers.
Adding to the original story posted by The Wall Street Journal back in March, the New York Post claims Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is eager to get things rolling. The site also says this will be part of an overhaul to its media offerings, though it's not clear what else Amazon might be planning to do with regards to movies and other media.
Though the new service will be supported by ads, it won't be free. Similar to how Hulu Plus operates, there will be a subscription fee, which at least one analyst believes will be less than Netflix's current $7.99 monthly price. If that's the case, and depending on what kind of content is offered, this could be the nudge that potential cord cutters need to cancel their cable or satellite TV service. However, that's not really Amazon's goal.
"The main point is to bring in more users that you can eventually up-sell to Prime, or to get to a broader audience that doesn't want to pay for Prime, in order to increase their video share," one of the sources said.
They also said that around half of Amazon's Prime customers use the video service that's included with their memberships. With an estimated 50 million Prime subscribers, that breaks down to around 25 million people watching videos through Prime, versus Netflix's 33 million domestic subscribers.
