Amazon has announced a new licensing agreement with Viacom that will see Amazon offer its Prime Instant Video customers an additional 15,000 plus shows and movies. The deal, which was announced on Amazons press release page, will see customers have access to shows and movies from MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Spike, VH1, BET, CMT and Logo.
Amazon have in the past made it clear that they plan to be a big streaming player and this deal brings them a step closer to pole position in the TV streaming industry. This will likely be taken very personally by Netflix, who have also decided to push for streaming at the expense of their DVD rental business, which they announced they would not be growing any further.
Amazon have been known for their disruptive entry into new markets with the release of the Amazon Kindle Fire being perhaps the best example. Amazon Kindle Fire surpassed the Apple iPad as the most popular device over the Christmas period 2011 and current numbers show the device is well on its way to dislodging the Samsung Galaxy Tab as the second most bought tablet in the market.
Amazon will however have to get behind the line in Netflix challengers as Redbox and Verizon also recently announced their foray into the streaming market with a new co-venture that will see the two companies launch a movie streaming service. But they all have some bit of a distance to go because Netflix, through its legacy deals with content companies, has had an easier time ramping up its digital libraries than these others may have.
Nevertheless, Amazon, have indicated that they are out to have the single largest database of content on the planet and this deal should be seen as one of very many to come. It must be noted that the playing field has been further flattened with the announcement by content companies that they would no-longer be offering broadcasters exclusive rights to their content, something that will make competition all the more fiercer.
