Amazon vs. Netflix

Amazon is giving premium customers free access to thousands of streamed movies and TV shows. Should Netflix be worried?

Watch out Netflix and Hulu. Amazon Prime customers now get access to 5,000 live-streamed movies and TV shows.
(Image credit: Corbis)

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."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us