Analysis of the surprising announcement of a tie-up between Apple TV+ and Prime Video — what’s happening, and why.
Later this month, subscribers to Amazon’s Prime Video service will be able to sign up for Apple TV+ as a $9.99/month add-on to their Prime subscription. The announcement dropped on Thursday evening like a bolt out of the blue, and what it means is that the streaming home of The Rings of Power, Boys, and Reacher will soon be where some audiences go to also dip into Ted Lasso and Slow Horses. It’s an interesting combination, to be sure — but why was this move even necessary, and what does it actually mean?
First and foremost, the joint announcement is light on detail — I mean, really light. No timing beyond “later this month” and nothing else on the specifics of how you’ll actually subscribe (I assume you’ll be able to do it directly from the app, on any surface, but you never know).
Much more interesting to me is the “why” of this move, and that’s where things becomes a bit more speculative.
