Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) has renewed its content licensing agreement with CBS Corporation (CBS) to extend the archive of television shows and films currently available on its streaming video site, Amazon Prime Instant Video.
Amazon Instant Video is a digital video streaming and download service that lets users rent, buy or subscribe to a range of video content.
The extended CBS deal will make Prime Instant Video the exclusive online subscription service to stream the second season of the hit CBS series Under the Dome, based on Stephen King’s acclaimed novel of the same name. The new episodes will be available on Prime Instant Video just four days after they are broadcasted in summer 2014.
The new content can be streamed on all of Amazon’s platforms, including Kindle Fire and Fire HD, as well as Apple's (AAPL) iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. It is also available on Roku set-tops, Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox 360s, Sony (SNE) PlayStation 3s and Nintendo Wiis and Wii Us.
The online retailer has been consistently upgrading and promoting movies and television shows on its streaming video service. Over the past 12 months, Amazon has entered into a number of deals with every major Hollywood studio, as well as some of the major cable networks. Recently, Amazon signed a deal with PBS Distribution for the exclusive web rights to famous series like the Season 3 of Downton Abbey, taking the total number of videos on offer to 41,000.
We believe that expanding the video archive is one of the key strategies of Prime Instant Video. The deal is the latest effort by Amazon to strengthen its position versus Netflix (NFLX), the leading online video subscription service in the United States.
Though Amazon remains one of the leading players in the fast-growing e-commerce market, it reported a loss of 1 cent in the second quarter and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5 cents. Also, revenues of $15.70 billion were down 2.3% sequentially but up 22.4% from the year-ago quarter.
Amazon shares currently retain a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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