In an effort to combat Netflix"s streaming dominance, Amazon has announced a partnership with Paramount Studios for the company"s Amazon Prime streaming service.
The companies" joint press release states that Amazon will receive a number of commercially and critically acclaimed films, such as Mission Impossible III, Braveheart, Forrest Gump, Mean Girls, Nacho Libre, Clueless and other titles. Additional films in the deal were not named. According to the press release, the deal will provide Amazon Prime with "hundreds of new hit movies to Prime Instant Video in the U.S. over the next three years." With the deal, Amazon Prime now offers customers with over 17,000 movies and TV episodes.
Amazon Prime was launched in 2005, although the company didn"t begin offering its movie and television streaming program until February of last year. In addition to video streaming, the service offers users free two-day shipping for an annual cost of $79. Netflix, by comparison, has a far larger streaming library, but charges $8 a month (for a $96 annual cost) for its streaming service. Netflix also obviously lacks free two-day shipping.
Apps for Amazon Prime"s instant video service are currently available on the company"s Kindle Fire tablet as well as Sony"s PlayStation 3. A full list of devices which support Amazon Prime"s instant video service can be seen here. Amazon also offers an Instant Video service where users can purchase or rent over 120,000 titles.
Source: Amazon Press Release