Amazon on Friday announced the launch of Prime Video Channels - a marketplace that will see the company bring content providers like ManoramMax, discovery+, Lionsgate Play and Eros Now on one platform - in India.
India is the 12th country to offer Prime Video Channels.
Acting as an intermediary, Prime Video Channels will allow Prime members the option for add-on subscriptions of (over-the-top) OTT services and stream their content on the Amazon Prime Video app and website in India, a statement said.
"At launch, Prime Video Channels kickstarts with eight premium content providers - manoramaMAX, discovery+, Lionsgate Play, Eros Now, DocuBay, MUBI, hoichoi, and ShortsTV available with add-on subscriptions to Prime members in India," it added.
Customers will need to pay only for the service they choose. At launch, Prime members will get an introductory annual subscription offer made available by the OTT channel partners.
This will not only give customers more entertainment choices, but also benefit the OTT Channel partners who collaborate to leverage Prime Video's distribution, reach and tech infrastructure, he added.
With Prime Video Channels, users can browse in one place, search across all their premium subscription and get personalised recommendations. Close to 10,000 additional titles across 8 OTT services will become available to Prime members.
The yearly add-on subscription for the eight OTT apps are -- Manorama Max (Rs 699), discovery+ (Rs 299), Docubay (Rs 499), Eros Now (Rs 299), Lionsgate Play (Rs 699), MUBI (Rs 1,999) and Shorts TV (Rs 299).
Manorama Max and Shorts TV are offering 30 and 40 per cent discounts, respectively, to the Prime subscribers. MUBI is offering an introductory discount to Prime members at launch.
discovery+ and Eros Now are offering a 25 per cent discount for Prime members at launch, while there is a 33 per cent discount on hoichoi annual subscription for multiple streams and devices.
Content consumption has grown manifold in the last few years, especially amid the pandemic. OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+Hotstar and Zee5 have seen significant growth in user numbers.
Amazon - which competes with players like Netflix with its subscription-based Amazon Prime Video offering - has been bolstering its play in the content space in India.
In May this year, Amazon had announced the launch of a video streaming service 'miniTV' in India - a global first - that allows users to watch curated content across web-series, tech news, food, beauty and fashion, among others. The ad-supported service was launched on Amazon's shopping app.
