In a surprise move, Apple and Amazon have struck a deal that will see the Apple TV+ streaming service join Amazon’s Prime Video channels, says the Hollywood Reporter. The deal will add Apple’s streaming service and its content to Prime Video’s ecosystem as an additional subscription, joining Max, Paramount+ and other streaming options.
With this deal, Apple TV+ will join streaming services like Max, Paramount+, AMC+ and Starz as a subscription option for Prime Video subscribers. Apple TV+ will cost $9.99 per month, and as with other streaming add-ons on Prime Video, users will be able to watch all of their content directly within the Prime Video app. The addition of Apple TV+ is planned for later this month.
Prime Video chief Mike Hopkins announced the deal at the Bloomberg Screentime conference Wednesday evening.
“Our companies collaborate a lot, and I want to thank Eddie Cue, who is not here tonight, but he and his team have done a great job with this deal, and we are excited to launch it,” said Mike Hopkins .
“We want to make Apple TV+ and its award-winning library of series and films from the world’s greatest storytellers accessible to as many viewers as possible,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled that Prime Video now offers Apple TV+, giving viewers an incredible variety of options. »
Why this agreement?
Why would Apple TV+ want to do a deal with Prime Video? As Eddy Cue and Mike Hopkins have pointed out, it’s about scale, with Amazon having great reach (as its numbers for NFL Thursday Night Football show) and Apple TV+ still being a relatively small player in the field of streaming. Mike Hopkins mentioned that Prime Video has “hundreds of millions” of users.
“I think this engagement around the world with Prime members accessing Prime Video is a great platform for other partners to reach them, with easy access to the subscriber base, a single store, easy navigation easy, one-click subscription, all in one app,” explained Mike Hopkins.
Apple TV+ offers series like “Ted Lasso,” “Slow Horses,” “The Morning Show” and “Severance,” as well as movies like “Wolves.” It is also the global broadcaster for Major League Soccer. Although Prime Video has made similar deals with other streaming services, the move marks a significant strategic departure for Apple, which has made Apple TV+ a key component of its Apple One bundle, alongside other products like Apple Music, Apple News and Apple Arcade.
Other topics covered
Mike Hopkins also touched on several other topics during the Screentime conversation, including the future of the James Bond franchise, which Amazon shares with the Broccoli family. When asked about future Bond films, Mike Hopkins replied: “We’re working on that too. We’ll see. I wish I could announce something about this, but we’re not ready yet. »
Regarding his management of intellectual property (IP) acquired with MGM, Mike Hopkins stressed the importance of a careful approach:
“I think it’s really important that when you have the kind of IP that MGM has, and that exists elsewhere, you have to handle that IP with care,” he said. “Consumers aren’t necessarily just looking for a remake of something. So if you’re going to do things, we think you have to do it with a different angle, a different approach, and it has to be interesting to the audience. »
He also likened Prime Video to a “broadcast network on steroids” in terms of the breadth and depth of its content.
“We are Amazon, and we want to be many things to many people. So that means we’re covering a lot of ground, because we have, like I said, hundreds of millions of consumers around the world using our app. Everyone is different. Everyone has different tastes,” he explained. “And so, to be successful in a business like this, you can’t be too narrow. You actually need to be wide. »
