Amazon Prime Now Includes Streaming Videos On Demand

Since hooking up a Google TV to my television, I have enjoyed watching streaming videos from YouTube, Amazon Video on Demand and Netflix but just a couple of weeks ago Amazon made a huge improvement to its Video on Demand service. It made all video rentals free for Amazon Prime members. Since the announcement, I've enjoyed several movies for free! It's been amazing.

In case Amazon Prime is new to you, it's a membership that offers unlimited free shipping on all items for $79.99 a year membership. To sweeten that deal, now you can get an additional bonus as all video rentals are included in that membership fee. For anyone already paying for Amazon Prime, this is a huge bonus and for anyone thinking about joining Amazon Prime this could be a great reason.

So the way it works is:  select the movie you want to watch on Amazon VOD, click to rent the movie (it will look like you are going to be charged for the video but then upon ordering you'll receive an email that voids out the rental amount and makes it free) and enjoy. Amazon VOD has over 5,000 streaming movies and TV shows – check out some of the video titles that are available.

Though Netflix has a very large and loyal membership and is a marketing machine, this move by Amazon could start to disrupt new users from joining Netflix. Netflix currently has a much more robust catalog of video titles than Amazon, but we assume that will change over time. With this new competition, Netflix may want to start looking into some new partnerships that offer additional value and incentives. In the meantime, we'll be watching Amazon Videos On Demand and hoping that Amazon continues to add additional video titles to the mix.

Did you find this article helpful? Click on one of the following buttons
We're so happy you liked! Get more delivered to your inbox just like it.

We're sorry this article didn't help you today – we welcome feedback, so if there's any way you feel we could improve our content, please email us at contact@tech.co

Written by:
Frank Gruber is the cofounder, CEO and Executive Editor of Tech.Co (formerly Tech Cocktail). He is the author of the book, Startup Mixology, Tech Cocktail’s Guide to Building, Growing, and Celebrating Startup Success. He is also a startup advisor and investor to startups. Find Frank Gruber online and follow him on Twitter at @FrankGruber.
Explore More See all news
Back to top
close Building a Website? We've tested and rated Wix as the best website builder you can choose – try it yourself for free Try Wix today