Amazon has been spending a lot of time and money trying to catch up to Netflix in the subscription-video race. So far, not much luck: Many more people seem to be watching video via Reed Hastingsâs service .
But now Jeff Bezos has something new: Offline viewing.
Amazonâs new line of Kindle Fire HDX tablets will let Prime Instant Video users* download some movies and TV shows to their devices, for free, for up to 30 days, so they can watch without an Internet connection. Once they start watching a particular title, theyâll have 48 hours to finish.
Thatâs a feature no other U.S. subscription-streaming service currently offers. And it might prove very handy for travelers, or anyone else who wants to watch something on a laptop or tablet but doesnât have access to good broadband.
Amazon says it would like to make the feature available for all of its Prime Instant shows and movies. But, for now, itâs only going to be available on a subset of its titles, because the company has to haggle with rights owners to get the extra feature.
Amazon wonât spell out how many of its titles will be available for download, but says the feature will apply to âtens of thousandsâ of movies and shows. In June, the company said Prime Instant had more than 41,000 titles [1] , which suggests that it may be available on at least half of Amazonâs catalog.
Amazon says participating studios include Comcastâs NBC, Viacom, Sony, CBS and Time Warnerâs Warner Bros.; titles include âUnder The Dome,â âDownton Abbey,â âJustified,â âDora the Explorer,â âSponge Bobâ and âGoodfellas.â
The move is interesting because it shows Amazonâs desire to differentiate itself from competitors like Netflix and Hulu. Up until now, the only way for the services to really stand out from each other is via exclusive content deals â" Amazon, for instance, has been the only place you could stream CBSâs âUnder the Domeâ this summer.
It also demonstrates that Hollywood and the TV networksâ thinking is evolving when it comes to âwindowingâ their products via different delivery methods. In the past, video owners have tried to keep download rights separate from subscription-streaming rights, reserving the former for sales and rentals.
Video industry executives say they expect download rights to eventually show up at Amazonâs competitors; Googleâs YouTube has already announced plans for offline viewing for its free videos. Itâs also possible that downloads really wonât be significant for lots of people, who donât have trouble finding a good broadband connection in the place they want to watch âDora.â
So, it may be that Amazonâs move wonât mean much in the long run. For now, at least, itâs an interesting twist, and well worth watching.
*Amazonâs streaming service is provided free to people who pay $79 a year for Amazonâs Prime delivery subscription package [2] .
Links
- ^ 41,000 titles (phx.corporate-ir.net)
- ^ Prime delivery subscription package (www.amazon.com)
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