Amazon’s Prime Video Is Adding Apple TV+ ...

Amazon and Apple, two Silicon Valley behemoths, are teaming up more closely in the streaming arena

Published Time: 10.10.2024 - 07:31:31 Modified Time: 10.10.2024 - 07:31:31

Amazon and Apple, two Silicon Valley behemoths, are teaming up more closely in the streaming arena.

Later this month, Apple TV+ will be available via Prime Video in the U.S. as an add-on subscription for $9.99 per month, Amazon announced Wednesday.

Apple TV+ joins Prime Video’s collection of more than 100 add-on subscription options in the U.S., which include Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max, Paramount Global’s Paramount+, Sony’s Crunchyroll and Amazon-owned MGM+.

The deal to bring Apple TV+ into Prime Video is part of Amazon’s strategy to aggregate as many entertainment options as it can for customers — available on one bill, in one app.

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“Prime Video is a first-stop entertainment destination offering a wide selection of premium programming,” Mike Hopkins, SVP and Head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said in announcing the pact. “As we continue to expand our offering and make it easy for customers to personalize their streaming experience directly in one app, we are proud to welcome Apple TV+ and its popular and critically acclaimed shows, films and events to Prime Video.”

The two companies already work together on the devices side: Amazon’s Fire TV family provides a native Apple TV+ app, and the Apple TV 4K boxes stream Prime Video. But the new deal raises their business partnership to a new level. Amazon takes a certain percentage cut of subscription revenue for streaming services purchased via Prime Video, but it doesn’t disclose those terms.

At the Bloomberg Screentime conference in L.A. Thursday evening, Hopkins was asked how the Prime Video distribution deal benefits Apple, to which he responded that Amazon can offer Apple TV+ to “hundreds of millions of subscribers around the world.”

This past April, CEO Andy Jassy said Prime Video had surpassed 200 million monthly viewers. That number don’t indicate engagement, where Prime Video trails Netflix: For example, in August 2024, Netflix had 7.9% share of total U.S. TV time spent viewing versus 3.1% for Prime Video, per Nielsen.

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pple TV+ offers a lineup of original shows including “Severance,” “Slow Horses,” “The Morning Show,” “Presumed Innocent,” “Shrinking,” “Hijack,” “Loot,” “Palm Royale,” as well as films such as “Wolfs” starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney and “The Instigators” starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. The streaming service also offers Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball games.

Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of services, said in a statement, “We want to make Apple TV+ and its award-winning library of series and films from the world’s greatest storytellers available to as many viewers as possible. We’re thrilled that Prime Video will now offer Apple TV+, giving viewers an incredible breadth of viewing options.”

Prime Video is one of the key perks of the Prime membership program, which in the U.S. costs $139 per year (or $14.99 per month). Alternatively, consumers can sign up for a stand-alone Prime Video membership for $8.99 monthly.

In January, Prime Video began serving ads in TV shows and movies by default and offered customers the option to pay $2.99/month extra for an ads-free experience. (Disgruntled Prime users have sued Amazon over the change; the company is seeking to dismiss the suit.) This summer, the company revamped Prime Video’s user interface, aiming to boost engagement and make it easier to see what’s included for no additional charge with the streaming service.

Prime Video’s original programming includes Amazon MGM Studios-produced series and movies such as “Road House,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Fallout,” “Reacher,” “The Boys” and “The Idea of You” plus licensed content. Live sports on the service includes the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football,” WNBA and NWSL games.