Amazon Prime Video is a streaming service run by Amazon, Inc. which offers on-demand and unlimited streaming videos. It features thousands of movies and TV shows available to you at the touch of a button. Along with movies and TV shows, Prime Video also offers selective shows of live sports. It also has a feature called Prime Video Channels which lets you add streaming access to other networks for an additional fee.
If you are looking for a reliable internet to access Amazon Prime Video with, check out Xfinity internet packages at their websites. With their Xfinity, X1 comes a Prime subscription, and users can speak into the voice remote and play individual titles on their TT screens.
Table of Contents
Amazon Live TV – An Evolution?
There has not been any official statement from the e-commerce giant yet, but Amazon has posted a job listing that pinpoints their interest in running a live TV for their consumers. The job listing indicated that Amazon was looking to hire a Product Manager for their Prime Video Linear team to help conduct and create TV programs that would contribute to their customers’ TV experience. It went on to say that they were looking to build a linear catalog system that would provide the best-in-class TV experience for their Prime video customers. Furthermore, in the job listing, Amazon spokesperson also seemed to have indicated that although on-demand is on the rise, the majority of the global viewing hours lies in favor of live or scheduled or linear TV and it is predicted to grow by 65% in the next two years. A company insider has also informed that Amazon is actively seeking licenses for live and linear programming. If all these speculations are true, Amazon is looking to introduce Linear or Live TV for their subscribers of Amazon Prime Video. Amazon Prime Live TV may bring live news, music, award shows, or other special events, besides movies and TV shows, onto their Linear TV channel. This will bring about a change of winds for Amazon among its rivals as well.
Difference between Live TV and On-demand
In Live TV, the viewer can scroll through whatever the service chooses to show at the time. Just like in traditional TV, the viewer can scroll through a bunch of channels and pick anyone that is already in progress. On-demand TV shows a variety of video content already in place that the viewer can choose from. Unlike in Live TV, the viewer can start, pause, stop, and resume content at his own leisure on on-demand TV.
Live TV is less likely to stream newly released movies or original content. The producers of Live TV arrange programs in an order that is most likely to attract viewers’ ratings, so there is a broad variety of content to be viewed. All of the channels in Live TV show advertising though. On on-demand TV, on the other hand, you can select a specific show or movie that you choose to watch. The content is stored in a cloud and viewers can start playing the content any time he wishes to. There is no or limited advertising on on-demand TV.
Amazon Prime live sports
This is not the first time Amazon is going for live programming. Amazon already airs limited live sports shows, such as the Premier League in the UK and Champions League in Germany, to which they own the rights. Prime Video Channels also offer a variety of third-party channels, as part of Amazon’s overall package, with an extra fee.
Cable replacement
With Amazon Prime subscription, you have access to the library of thousands of video content. When the Live TV is also included, then you have the whole package for your viewing pleasure, and cable TV is not needed anymore. You do not have to pay a separate bill for cable TV anymore if you own an Amazon Prime account. It is definitely time to cut the cord. However, even if you cut TV cable, you will still need a home internet connection for streaming. Mostly you get internet as part of a cable TV bundle, along with phone service. But you can look around for multiple internet providers that offer internet separately from cable TV.
Companies doing Live TV
Other companies are or have tried offering live TV with certain degrees of success. Hulu offers live TV for their subscribers, with many options for broadcast channels for a fee. YouTube is also doing the same. Currently, it has a channel called YouTube TV which offers a wide range of 85 channels along with having six accounts. However, because of the highly competitive TV industry with its expensive content and deals, YouTube and Hulu have had to increase the prices for live TV. Some companies like Sony TV were forced to shut down their live TV service called PlayStation Vue due to the high costs of streaming live TV.
Amazon Prime Video could be one step ahead of all its competitors such as Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO, etc. if it introduces live and linear programming in their subscription plan. But nothing has been confirmed by any spokesperson from Amazon.
