Amazon Launches Free Unlimited Streaming Service For Prime Subscribers [Paid Amazon Prime Subscribers Get Another Perk, Free & Unlimited Movie & Television Episode Streaming]

Posted on TFTS by Robert Nelson on Tuesday, 22. February 2011 under: Audio,Visual

This is certainly not the first time we have heard talk of a movie and television service for Amazon Prime subscribers, however there is a bit of good news today in that the service has gone live. And suddenly, the $79 per year Amazon Prime membership is that much more attractive.

That said, for those unfamiliar with Amazon Prime, this is a premium service offered by Amazon that (before today) was best known for giving subscribers free two day shipping on any products that they ordered. But as of today, there will also be access to the “unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of 5,000 movies and TV shows.”

And best of all, this is available as of today for all current and paid Amazon Prime subscribers and will also be offered for anyone that becomes a member moving forward. In fact, Amazon is still offering the one month free trials of Amazon Prime.

Otherwise, the Amazon streaming seems like it will be some nice competition with Netflix and according to Amazon, they are on “nearly 200 models of Internet connected TV’s, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes.” And of course, you can also stream content using a Mac or PC computer.

The one catch here appears to be in where this service is available — at present this is US only and so far there is no mention as to when or if other areas will be given access in the future.

With that, some of the content that you can choose to watch includes movie titles such as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, Amadeus, Syriana and Chariots of Fire. In terms of television, that is noted as including The BBC Office, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Doctor Who, Farscape, Super Why! and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

And lastly, while we are still trying to dig up some additional details, there has been some chatter as to which Amazon Prime subscribers have access. Some reports have suggested that if you have gotten an Amazon Prime account for free (such as the offer for college students) then you will not see the streaming added. Of course, not having a free account we cannot confirm, however we could not help note that Amazon described this offer as being for “paid Prime” members.

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