Amazon is ramping up the amount of content it has available on its Prime Instant Videos streaming service, adding 2,000 more titles through a new deal with Fox. That brings the total number of streaming titles in its Prime library to 11,000, which is nearly double the amount that it launched with in February.
As part of the deal, Amazon adds a number of cult and fan favorite TV shows, including 24, Arrested Development, The X-Files, Ally McBeal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Wonder Years — that last of which will be available via streaming for the first time. It also includes movies like Speed, Mrs. Doubtfire and Office Space, and classics such as All About Eve and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The latest deal has the potential to put more pressure on Netflix, which is trying to recover from a badly communicated price increase and the separation of its streaming and DVD-by-mail services. Those moves have left many of its customers unhappy and ready to quit.
While 11,000 titles is still well below the 51,000 that Netflix reportedly has available, the rapid increase in title count — from 6,000 at launch in February to 11,000 today — shows that Amazon is serious about building a competing service in the subscription video-on-demand space. Its Prime Instant Videos service is available to anyone who pays $ 79 a year to use Amazon Prime, which gives them access to free, two-day shipping. That compares to the $ 96 a year one can expect to pay for Netflix’s $ 8 per month subscription streaming service.
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