Apple TV+ comes to Amazon Prime Video as a subscription add-on

In a surprise move, Apple and Amazon have struck a deal that will bring the Apple TV+ streaming service to Amazon's Prime Video channels.

The deal will see Apple TV+ join streaming services like Max, Paramount+, AMC+ and Starz as a subscription add-on for Prime Video subscribers. Apple TV+ costs $9.99 per month and like other Prime Video streaming add-ons, users can watch all of their content in the Prime Video app. Apple TV+ will be added later this month.

Prime Video boss Mike Hopkins announced the deal at the Bloomberg Screentime Conference on Wednesday evening.

“Our companies do a lot of business together and would like to thank Eddie Cue, who I know is not here tonight, but he and his team have done a great job on this deal and we are excited to get it off the ground .” “Hopkins said of the deal.

“We want to bring Apple TV+ and its award-winning library of series and films from the world’s greatest storytellers to as many viewers as possible,” said Eddy Cue, senior vice president of services at Apple, in a statement. “We are pleased that Prime Video now offers Apple TV+, giving viewers an incredible range of viewing options.”

Why would Apple TV+ want to make a deal with Prime Video? As Cue noted and Hopkins argued, size matters, with Amazon having a lot of it (like its NFL). Thursday Night Football Numbers prove it) and Apple TV+ is still a significantly smaller streaming player. Hopkins said Prime Video has “hundreds of millions” of users.

“I think this engagement around the world with Prime members accessing Prime Video is a really great platform for other partners to reach out to, easy access to the subscriber base, one stop shop, easy navigation “One-click subscription, direct.” one app,” said Hopkins. “And I think that’s what attracts partners.”

Apple TV+ has series like Ted Lasso, Slow horses, The Morning Show And Severance payas well as films like Wolves. It is also the global streaming home of Major League Soccer. While Prime Video has struck similar deals with other streaming services, the move represents a significant shift in strategy for Apple, which has made Apple TV+ a key part of its Apple One package alongside products like Apple Music, Apple News and Apple Arcade.

Hopkins also touched on a number of other topics during the Screentime conversation, including the future of the James Bond series, which Amazon shares with the Broccoli family. When pressed on future Bond films, Hopkins said: “We’re working on that too. We'll see. I wish I could announce something there, we’re not ready for that yet.”

As for his approach to managing the intellectual property the company acquired with MGM, Hopkins argued that a careful approach was best:

“I think it's really important that when you have the kind of intellectual property that exists at MGM and other places, you have to be careful about reimagining that intellectual property,” he said. “Consumers aren’t necessarily just looking for a new version of something. So in our opinion, if you want to do something, you have to do it from a different angle, with a different point of view and it has to be good for the audience.”

He also compared Prime Video to a “broadcast network on steroids” in terms of the breadth and depth of its content.

“We are Amazon and we want to offer a lot to a lot of people. So that means we cover a lot of ground because, as I said, we have hundreds of millions of consumers around the world accessing and using our app, everyone is different. Everyone has different tastes,” he said. “So if you want to be successful in a business like this, you can't be so narrow. You actually have to have a broad base.”