Friday, December 11, 2015

New Bundlers Will Arise as OTT Streaming Grows

One reason it is easy to predict that new “bundles” will arise in the over the top video streaming business is that people will want convenience, when there are hundreds of branded services and countless individual programs and TV series to choose from.

Nobody will want to spend too much time trying to figure out how to find desired content from hundreds of individual sites. Just as obviously, nobody is going to want to spend too much money buying a la carte, though people will enjoy being able to do so.

That virtually assures a role for aggregators and distributors able to provide a convenient way to buy content.

Amazon’s Streaming Partners Program, an over-the-top streaming subscription program for video providers, makes many services available to Prime members.

Initial launch partners include: SHOWTIME, STARZ, A+E Network (Lifetime Movie Club), AMC (Shudder and SundanceNow Doc Club), Gaia, RLJ Entertainment (Acorn TV, Urban Movie Channel, Acacia TV), DramaFever (DramaFever Instant), Tribeca Shortlist, Cinedigm (Dove Channel, Docurama, CONtv), Smithsonian (Smithsonian Earth), IndieFlix (IndieFlix Shorts), Curiosity Stream, Qello Concerts, FlixFling (Cinefest, Nature Vision, Warriors and Gangsters, Dox, Monsters and Nightmares), BroadbandTV (Hooplakidz Plus), DEFY Media (ScreenJunkies Plus), Gravitas (Film Forum, Daring Docs, Fear Factory), and Ring TV Boxing.

To some observes, the Streaming Partners Program looks like an early way of recreating the “many choices” value that linear video once represented, with the addition of “buy only what you want” features.

“With the Streaming Partners Program, we’re making it easy for video providers to reach highly engaged Prime members, many of whom are already frequent streamers, and we’re making it easier for viewers to watch their favorite shows and channels,” said Michael Paull, Vice President of Digital Video at Amazon.

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