Amazon has this week announced it will offer live TV on its streaming service in the UK and Germany.
Prime members will be able to add individual subscriptions for a monthly fee, with channels including Discovery, Eurosport and ITV Hub+ – plus a list of much more obscure channels such as Hopster, Shudder and Heera.
On top of the £79 a year subscription to Amazon Prime, Eurosport will cost £6.99 a month and Discovery Channel £4.99 a month.
ITV will offer an ad-free version of its streaming service for £3.99 per month, while the likes of Nordic Noir will cost £4.99 a month.
Commenting on the news, Tom Harrington, an analyst at Enders, told the BBC that the launch appeared rather lacklustre.
“Amazon launched a similar thing in the US, and the big selling point was that you could get HBO and Showtime programmes, all under one umbrella,” he said.
“That’s not going to happen here. Sky have HBO and Showtime locked down, at least for now, and will hold on to them aggressively.
“When you look at what’s available in the UK, it does lack the wow factor.”
Alex Green, MD, Europe, Amazon Channels said: “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,”
“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.”
