Amazon announced their entry in Indian video entertainment marketplace with the launch of Prime Video channels bringing diverse content under one umbrella. They revealed that they have partnered with eight premium content providers namely discovery+, Lionsgate Play, Eros Now, DocuBay, MUBI, hoichoi, manoramaMAX, and ShortsTV.
Prime Video channels, acting as an intermediary, will allow Prime members the option for add-on subscriptions of popular OTT services and stream their content on the Amazon Prime Video app and website in India. The launch of Prime Video channels will mark yet another step towards making Amazon Prime Video the preferred entertainment destination for customers in India, they said in an official statement.
“At Amazon, we have always focused on improving access, experience and selection for our customers,” Amazon Prime Video India country manager Gaurav Gandhi said.
“Over the last four years, we have continuously strived to entertain and delight our customers by programming in ten languages, making available exclusive and original content from India and around the world and by ensuring a world class streaming experience across screens. All of this has made Amazon Prime Video the most loved premium streaming service with viewership from 99 percent of India’s pin-codes. With the launch of Prime Video channels, we now take the next big step in our journey to entertain India by creating a video entertainment marketplace – first of its kind in India – which will not only delight our customers by giving them even more entertainment choices, but also benefit the OTT Channel partners who collaborate with us to leverage Prime Video’s distribution, reach and tech infrastructure,” he commented.
At launch, Prime members can enjoy special introductory annual subscription offers made available by the OTT channel partners. Prime members will enjoy benefits like hassle-free billing, amazing features, wide array of content across platforms on Prime Video app or website and so on.
“As content choices explode, a single interface for discovery, streaming and payments, is a key need for customers and we aim to solve this with the launch of Prime Video channels” said Prime Video channels head, Amazon Prime Video, Chaitanya Divan.
“Prime Video channels arrives in India after having successfully launched in 11 countries. Our choice of OTT partners for Prime Video channels is reflective of our diverse and discerning customers’ entertainment needs and interest areas. The launch marks our effort to collaboratively grow the video streaming segment in the country. We look forward to increasing the selection of entertainment even further, with additional channel partners joining in the next few months,” Divan added.
Prime Video channels members will now be able to enjoy programming in local Indian languages. Hoichoi will cater to Bengali viewers, Malayalam people will enjoy manoramaMAX and all can choose from a selection of award-winning documentaries and short films from DocuBay.
Consumers can enjoy blockbuster and quality cinema from Lionsgate Play, MUBI and Eros Now, across languages and genres, while discovery+ adds an array of wildlife, adventure, science, food, lifestyle content.
Prime Video channels subscriptions and annual pricing for the platforms during the launch are- discovery+ (Rs 299), Docubay (Rs 499), Eros Now (Rs 299),hoichoi (Rs 599), Lionsgate Play (Rs 699), Manorama Max (Rs. 699), MUBI (Rs 1999) and Shorts TV (Rs 299).
The new channels and their popular titles like The Father, Byomkesh, Star vs Food, Haathi Mere Saathi will now be available alongside customer favorite Amazon Originals like Shershaah, Mirzapur, Paatal Lok, The Family Man and The Tomorrow War, all at one place.
Prime Video is available in India at no extra cost with Prime membership for just Rs 999 annually.