Amazon has just launched their à la carte channels video service in the UK and Germany. Prime members in both of those countries can now expand their lineup of video content through individual channel subscriptions, ranging from £1.49/1,99€ to £9.99/7,99€ each. Many of the available networks, such as Discovery in the UK, have never before been available without subscribing to a larger cable package. There are 41 available Amazon Channels in the UK and 26 available channels in Germany. Each channel offers a free trial period of 7-30 days and can easily be canceled online in a few clicks.
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Full story at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39979009
Is the Discovery offering in HD and does it include Discovery Turbo?
It seems to be a vod service, heres the shows:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/b/ref=atv_3p_def_c_fea_2_zcgdis2?_encoding=UTF8&benefitId=discoverychannel&node=3010085031&pf_rd_i=default&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=1265446387&pf_rd_r=KAKJ74Y2KAJ033HWMRNE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=12806
No mention about Discovery Turbo it seems… they don’t really say much about the channels you get actually.
Only Discovery streams live and is in HD, along with the channel’s VOD. No other Discovery spin-offs are on the channel.
I honestly can’t see this being very popular unless they’re able to poach from Sky.
I could see people paying extra for HBO/Showtime/FX shows & boxing, wrestling, etc but Sky pretty much has a monopoly there, esp with the Now TV box offering these when you want them. (I mean I don’t… I try to use Prime and Netflix as much as possible but y’know kodi).
And lol at ITV. I’m just a tad negative about this because I’m worried about what this might lead to in the future. Just expand Prime please..
You can get a majority of these as apps anyway, be it on a smart bix/stick/TV, computer, mobile or tablet.
In the UK I can’t see this taking off, we have TV providers from free to paid, subscriptions from low cost to high, what Amazon should have done was do a deal to create their own pricing structure for these so instead of being full price they should have been buy 1 for xx, buy 5 for xx, buy all for xx.
With most viewing really for In Demand which is covered by Sky, Virgin, Now TV, BT, TalkTalk, Plusnet, TV Catch Up etc included for free or with a sub, addons tend to be Netflix & Amazon Prime.
So Amazon should really get these companies to agree to ‘special’ pricing. You are looking at a lit of money if you like many of those listed.
Looking at the players available there are two in particular that I would be interested in BFI for films and it represents good value if watching around 4 new releases a month which I do and in specific times during the year when there are multiple releases to suit easter, summer xmas etc I would see even more. BFI offer a discount on rental saving 67p a film so that reduces the £4.99 a month subscription by almost half and there are some great films available on the platform.
Eurosport Player is another unless you were lucky enough to secure a cheap year’s subscription earlier in the year but is great for the cycling season.
Horses for courses though but everyone has different requirements and certainly as SKY have shown it can be very expensive to subscribe to watch limited content. One of the advantages we have with streaming services is the opt in opt out no contract, I like many will watch a number of TV shows in full and a few movies and opt out and sign up for a different service. Only those who want to see absolutely everything all at once as soon as available find it a problem but really how many hours can be devoted to watching content in a week?
Just gone through the channels,the only two I’d be interested in would be Shudder and Arrow…but I already use Shudder through the app,and the film’s on Arrow are already on Shudder,Prime or Netflix…oh well
ITV hub for £3.99 a month? Seriously, when there is already an app and the content is free to view. Or am i missing something?
The concept obviously has potential, and hopefully Amazon will find a way to wrestle the monopoly away from Sky (i would shed no tears for the demise of Sky), but in this incarnation I can’t see them getting any takers.
ITV Encore where most of the ITV box sets are isn’t available on the ITV Hub until now only available through SKY. So anyone who wants to watch Lewis, Broadchurch, Vera etc will have this option now and not forgetting opting in and out as I mentioned earlier allows you to watch what you want when you want and not be tied into an expensive satellite option.
VOD is 1080p compared to the ITV Hub free which is in SD. Some issues with 4:3 VOD though.