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Amazon gunning for Netflix with planned streaming service, insiders say

Posted by Jon Dick on Jan 25, 2012

Amazon Netflix1 Amazon gunning for Netflix with planned streaming service, insiders say

Amazon, riding high on the holiday success of its Kindle Fire, is mulling going head to head with Netflix, according to the New York Post. Sources tapped for the story said the online retailer would spin off its existing video-streaming service, Amazon Instant Video, into a standalone, subscription-based service.

Amazon Instant Video, launched last February, offers over 100,000 movies and TV shows, thousands of which are free for Prime members (after their $79/year dues have been collected, of course). The balance of the content, and anything accessed by non-members, is available on a pay-per-title basis – a model Amazon would presumably change to mimic Netflix’s pay-up-front policy.

Paul Verna, a senior analyst at eMarketer, had this to say about Amazon’s plans:

Amazon is aggressively pursuing the same content strategy as Netflix and is spending a lot upfront to try to secure exclusivity. They won’t always get it, but they need to differentiate themselves.

If July’s $100 million payment to CBS for thousands of hours of the network’s shows is any indication, not to mention renewed deals with Fox, Disney, and NBCUniversal, Amazon’s new service could materialize sooner rather than later.

Sources: New York Post, Techmeme

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