In a surprise launch, Amazon revealed 12 Prime Video Channels on 9 November 2021. The included channels are Paramount+, hayu, STARZPLAY, AMC+, MGM, Acorn TV, Shudder, OUTtv, The Great Courses, iwonder, DocPlay and Love Nature. Show Together they bring access to tens of thousands of additional TV shows and movies through your Amazon Prime membership. However, it's important to note that these are not included in your Prime Video subscription. Instead, Prime Video Channels unlocks your ability to subscribe to, access and manage third-party streaming apps through a single login. Your Amazon Prime login. There is no real financial saving here as a result; except a 7-day free trial for all 12 apps. Indeed, if you were to subscribe to them all you'd be up for $74.88 a month. It's not the first occasion we've seen this idea in action. This is effectively what Optus SubHub is looking to do. Foxtel is also building to this one-app-to-rule-them-all endgame, starting with its latest IQ box. However, Prime Video Channels does bring with it some benefits that can't be ignored.
30 DAYS FREE: Sign up to Amazon Prime Video's free trial today Prime Video's free 30-day trial will give you instant access to thousands of premium TV shows and movies. T&Cs apply. Better access to new and existing streaming TV appsAs mentioned, there are 12 new streaming app channels available through Prime Video. There are 6 we have already seen here in Australia. Namely, Paramount+, hayu, Acorn TV, Shudder, iwonder and DocPlay. So, for these channels, there are 3 main benefits to users for being part of the Prime Video Channels initiative.
Infuriatingly, you must subscribe through Amazon Prime to access the services. So, if you already have a Paramount+ subscription, you can't log in with your Paramount+ details to watch the service through the Amazon app. However, the other 6 apps have not previously been released in Australia at all. This includes STARZPLAY, AMC+, MGM, OUTtv, The Great Courses and Love Nature. For anyone who had been longing for access to these apps, which are available in the USA, this reveal quickly becomes a big deal. It's also worth noting that STARZPLAY, AMC+ and MGM provide varying amounts of content to Stan, Foxtel Now and BINGE. So, it will be interesting to see if the ability to subscribe directly to that content impacts the audiences of these streaming video on-demand apps. I suspect the impact will be marginal. List of Amazon Prime Video Channels and pricingNote: Descriptions provided by Amazon.
Is it all positive news?Personally, I do feel like there is a missed opportunity here on the part of Amazon Prime that could have made for a bigger win for consumers. Why can't you receive a saving if you subscribe to more than one of the Prime Video Channels? This is the incentive offered to users of Optus SubHub. Perhaps it is something that will come in the future.
If you're not already an Amazon Prime Video subscriber, it is well worth considering. As well as great content, there's a stack of additional perks such as free shipping on purchases, kindle books, music and more. It's one of the best value offers in Australia. |