According to a report from The Information, Amazon is working on their own free ad-supported news channel for their Fire TV streaming media players. The service sounds like that of The Roku Channel which has added live linear news channels from partners like ABC News, Cheddar, and Newsmax.
This would be Amazon’s next logical step in building a free, ad-supported streaming platform. Earlier this year, they launched a free streaming video channel called IMDb Freedive. The service includes movies like Memento, Awakenings, The Last Samurai, and TV Shows like Fringe, Heroes, and Without A Trace.
Amazon’s hope is that by adding live news content, the company will be able expand the advertising inventory available on the Fire TV platform. The company would also be competing with free ad-supported streaming services like Viacom-owned Pluto TV, Sinclair-owned STIRR, and independents XUMO and Tubi.
That company would likely build their news service by partnering with broadcast news players looking to attract cord-cutters.
Both CBS and ABC which launched CBSN and ABC News Live in November 2014 and May 2018 respectively. At the SXSW conference this month, NBC News President Noah Oppenheim said that they will be launching a streaming news network called NBC News Now in May.