Amazon’s Prime delivery service has exceeded 200 million members worldwide, according to a letter founder Jeff Bezos sent to shareholders. Amazon Prime membership includes access to its built-in streaming service, Amazon Prime Video.
Amazon Prime Video is currently the world’s second largest streaming video service, trailing only Netflix. Their growth looks only to continue as subscribers say they are “very likely” to keep the service even after social distancing regulations are lifted and there are more things to do.
Amazon Prime Video has also recently secured the exclusive rights from the NFL to stream on Thursday nights, making it the only option for football fans looking to keep up with those games this year.
Amazon Prime Video has a leg up over the competitors in a couple of unique ways. The fact that access is included with a Prime membership is certainly a factor when it comes to the service’s widespread adoption. Many people have access to the platform and aren’t even aware of it, having subscribed to Prime primarily for the shipping savings. This has made Prime Video a bit of a stealth operation.
Additionally, unlike the walled garden approach taken by Netflix or disney+, Amazon Prime Video allows members to subscribe to other third-party services through the platform itself. This makes it a great foundational streaming service that members can then curate as they see fit by adding other channels like HBO, STARZ, or discovery+, which just became available on the service.
This is all in addition to Amazon Prime Video’s growing library of must-see original programming. Check out our list of the 10 Best Series on Amazon Prime Video.
The growth of Prime Video has not been without controversy. Amazon fought with WarnerMedia, which eventually allowed HBO Max to be included as a Prime Video channel as long as it could be added to Fire TV devices. Peacock is still not available on Fire TV devices, nor is it available as a Prime Video channel.
Amazon Prime can be purchased for $12.99 per month ($119 per year), or you can pick up Prime Video on its own for $8.99 per month.
Jeff Bezos plans to step back from the company’s day-to-day operations, handing the reins over to incoming CEO Andrew Jassy in the third quarter of the year. Bezos described the position within the company as “a hard job with lots of responsibility.”
“I guarantee you that Andy won’t let the universe make us typical. He will muster the energy needed to keep alive in us what makes us special. That won’t be easy, but it is critical. I also predict it will be satisfying and oftentimes fun,” said Bezos.