It was rumored last week that Amazon would soon announce that Prime members will be able to add subscriptions to video networks like Showtime, Starz and others to their membership, and that’s precisely what it has announced today, Amazon is calling it the Streaming Partners Program and for now there are over a dozen launch partners that are part of this program. Amazon says additional networks will be added in the future.
Initial launch partners include Showtime, Starz, A+E Network, AMC, Curiosity Stream, FlixFling and many others. Prime members also get discounted subscription pricing, for example they pay just $8.99 per month to subscribe to Showtime and Starz streaming, which costs $10.99 on its own.
In this program Amazon will be looking after driving subscriber growth, managing payments and customer service aside from dealing with compatibility issues on various platforms. Providers aren’t burdened with any of that while viewers get benefits like free trials, special Prime member pricing, IMDb X-Ray integration and much more.
The ability to subscribe to these over-the-top streaming networks will gel in nicely with the plethora of content like TVs, movie shows and documentaries that Amazon Prime Video already offers. Prime Video is a benefit that Prime members get for paying $99 for the membership, they’ll also get a free trial of the Streaming Partners Program before having to pay for the service.
Filed in . Read more about Amazon and Entertainment.