Amazon surprised some of its best customers this week by offering them free streaming access to more than 5,000 movies and TV shows. Amazon Prime customers pay $79 a year for unlimited express-shipping — and will now receive unlimited free streaming, too. Will the company's bid to challenge Netflix as the king of on-demand online entertainment work? (Watch a report about the new service)
Not until Amazon's selection increases: Netflix "seems to be on pretty safe ground" for now, says Will Richmond at Business Insider. With a paltry 5,000 titles, Amazon can't compete with Netflix's vast library of movies — especially since rival Netflix already offers most of the same titles. If Amazon enters the race for content rights, then it could be a "big thorn" in Netflix's side. But until then, it "isn't close to being a Netflix-killer."
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