If you happen to already have Amazon Prime, a feature that affords you 2-day shipping on everything for an annual fee, you are in luck. Amazon is now offering unlimited movie and TV streaming to its Prime members. If you are not a member, you can sign up and get the deal, which averages out to about $6.60 per month – not a bad deal, all things considered.
You might be asking, “OK, what’s the catch?” There is one, and it might disappoint you. Amazon’s large collection streaming videos available for rental and purchase remains, but most of those titles are not “Prime Eligible” at this time. That means, you will not get Toy Story 3 as part of the deal, but you will get The Human Centipede. If your excitement is not already completely deflated, you can head over to Amazon and browse through the Prime Eligible shows and movies.
Amazon has undoubtedly unveiled this new plan to compete with Netflix, which offers a large library of movie and TV streaming for as low as $7.99 per month. Amazon’s large collection of newly released movies may seem appealing, but you will end up forking over quite a bit extra to watch them. When you actually compare the Amazon Prime Eligible catalog to that of Netflix, it does not measure up very well.
The fact that all newly released DVD titles are not on both services, however, is not the fault of either. The movie companies and TV networks are still weary of online streaming, despite the fact that they seem to be losing money on DVD sales, and people seem to love Internet streaming. Perhaps it is fear of the unknown, but the only way to truly combat rampant Internet piracy is to offer people what they want at affordable prices. Today, Amazon took a step in the right direction.
It is up to the movie companies to take the next one.
MWW PR & The Red Consultancy are PR companies Amazon.com works with.
