Amazon has brought Amazon Channels to Prime Video customers in the UK
AMAZON IS SETTING ITS SIGHTS on Netflix and Sky with the UK launch of ‘Amazon Channels’ on Prime Video.
The new service, already available in the States, allows Prime Video subscribers to watch a live TV feed or stream on-demand content from a host of content providers, including the Discovery Channel, Comic Con HQ, Eurosport, ITV Hub and, er, Horse & Country Play.
HBO isn’t yet available on the UK version of Amazon Channels yet, nor have BBC or Channel 4 signed up to the service.
Customers will be able to pick and choose with no fixed contract, paying between £1.49 and £9.99 per channel per month on top of their Amazon Prime membership. ITV’s catch up service will cost £3.99 per month, for example, while Eurosport – which will stram the French Open and Grand Slam tennis tournament – will fetch £4.99 a month.
« For the first time, Prime members in the UK and Germany will be able to choose to watch premium TV channels without having to sign up to a bundle or a contract, giving them the freedom to pay for only what they want to watch, » said Alex Green, head of Amazon Channels in Europe.
« From live sport to Bollywood, arthouse cinema to reality TV, and award-winning TV shows from popular channels like Discovery and ITV, Amazon Channels gives power back to customers to choose exactly what they want to watch. »
Paolo Pescatore, director of multiplay and media and CCS Insight, has described Amazon’s move as « highly disruptive », and as one than threatens Sky’s dominance in the pay TV market .
« Beyond free to air services, the addition of Discovery’s channels is hugely significant. This is the first time that its channels have been made available outside of the Sky universe and out of a bundle, » he said.
« In our opinion, this will force many households to think twice about their pay TV subscription and cut the cord as we’ve seen in the US. Especially if Amazon will add more live TV such as sports in the future. »
News of Amazon Channels coming to the UK comes amid speculation that the firm’s feud with Apple is finally over, with the firm set to announce Prime Video app for Apple TV at WWDC next month. µ
