Amazon Prime Video Channels delivers 6 new streaming apps to Australia
You can now subscribe to 12 additional streaming TV on-demand apps through your Prime membership, including 6 new to Australia.
In a surprise launch, Amazon revealed 12 Prime Video Channels on 9 November 2021. The included channels are Paramount+, hayu, STARZPLAY, AMC+, MGM, Acorn TV, Shudder, OUTtv, The Great Courses, DocPlay and Love Nature.
Together they bring access to tens of thousands of additional TV shows and movies through your Amazon Prime membership. However, it's important to note that these are not included in your Prime Video subscription.
Instead, Prime Video Channels unlocks your ability to subscribe to, access and manage third-party streaming apps through a single login. Your Amazon Prime login. There is no real financial saving here as a result; except a 7-day free trial for all 12 apps. Indeed, if you were to subscribe to them all you'd be up for $74.88 a month.
It's not the first occasion we've seen this idea in action. This is effectively what Optus SubHub is looking to do. Foxtel is also building to this one-app-to-rule-them-all endgame, starting with its latest IQ box. However, Prime Video Channels does bring with it some benefits that can't be ignored.
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Better access to new and existing streaming TV apps
As mentioned, there are 12 new streaming app channels available through Prime Video. There are 6 we have already seen here in Australia. Namely, Paramount+, hayu, Acorn TV, Shudder and DocPlay. So, for these channels, there are 3 main benefits to users for being part of the Prime Video Channels initiative.
- Discoverability and being able to see what content is available on services you don't have.
- The ease of subscribing, watching and cancelling all through a single app login.
- Ability to watch these apps on platforms on which they are not natively available. For example, you can now watch Paramount+ on your smart TV or video game console through the Amazon Prime app.
Infuriatingly, you must subscribe through Amazon Prime to access the services. So, if you already have a Paramount+ subscription, you can't log in with your Paramount+ details to watch the service through the Amazon app.
However, the other 6 apps have not previously been released in Australia at all. This includes STARZPLAY, AMC+, MGM, OUTtv, The Great Courses and Love Nature. For anyone who had been longing for access to these apps, which are available in the USA, this reveal quickly becomes a big deal.
It's also worth noting that STARZPLAY, AMC+ and MGM provide varying amounts of content to Stan, Foxtel Now and BINGE. So, it will be interesting to see if the ability to subscribe directly to that content impacts the audiences of these streaming video on-demand apps. I suspect the impact will be marginal.
List of Amazon Prime Video Channels and pricing
Note: Descriptions provided by Amazon.
| App | Price per month | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Paramount+ | $8.99 | A global digital subscription video streaming service from ViacomCBS that features a mountain of premium entertainment for audiences of all ages. Internationally, the streaming service features an expansive library of original series, hit shows and popular movies across every genre from world-renowned brands and production studios, including SHOWTIME®, BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and the Smithsonian Channel, in addition to a robust offering of premier local content. |
| hayu | $6.99 | hayu is home to over 300 fan-favourite reality TV shows, including Vanderpump Rules, and The Real Housewives and Below Deck franchises. Many shows are available the same day as the US. |
| STARZPLAY | $3.99 | The best in global SVOD, including STARZ Original series like Power and Spartacus, along with a vast library of all-time favourite Hollywood movies. |
| MGM | $4.99 | MGM's channel offers subscribers access to big franchises, fan favourites and box office hits from the studio's rich catalogue across both film and TV, including The Rocky Collection, Legally Blonde, and Fargo, among many others. |
| AMC+ | $8.99 | A premium streaming bundle from AMC Networks featuring original shows including dramas, comedies, true-crime and documentary series, and acclaimed movies, as well as full access to Shudder and Acorn TV. New and exclusive launch titles include The Beast Must Die, Ultra City Smiths and The Restaurant. |
| Acorn TV | $6.99 | Exclusive originals, addictive dramas, arresting mysteries, and more from Britain and beyond, including fan favourites such as Midsomer Murders, Agatha Christie's Marple and Poirot, Acorn TV Originals Agatha Raisin and Queens of Mystery, and the new exclusive series Dalgliesh. |
| Shudder | $6.99 | The best selection in genre entertainment, covering horror, thrillers and the supernatural, from Hollywood favourites and cult classics to original shows and critically acclaimed new original movies. Popular series include Creepshow, The Boulet Brothers' Dragula, and Behind the Monsters, and exclusive films like Horror Noire, V/H/S/94 and Jakob's Wife. |
| OUTtv | $3.99 | The world's first LGBTQ+ television network and the leading LGBTQ+ streaming service. Top titles include OUTtv Original Series Call Me Mother, Cam Boy, House of Drag and Iconic Justice. |
| The Great Courses | $7.99 | The Great Courses Signature Collection offers access to the most popular education and general-interest courses offered by Wondrium. |
| DocPlay | $3.99 | A standalone service from Madman Entertainment, delivering Australians a premium-quality documentary streaming service. Titles include Spaceship Earth, I Am Greta, First Australians and Searching for Sugar Man. |
| Love Nature | $3.99 | Love Nature brings audiences closer to the beauty and wonder of nature, sharing awe-inspiring stories and shining a light on the fight for survival in a changing world. See animals in their natural habitat through Love Nature's unfiltered, premium content. |
Is it all positive news?
Personally, I do feel like there is a missed opportunity here on the part of Amazon Prime that could have made for a bigger win for consumers. Why can't you receive a saving if you subscribe to more than one of the Prime Video Channels? This is the incentive offered to users of Optus SubHub. Perhaps it is something that will come in the future.
If you're not already an Amazon Prime Video subscriber, it is well worth considering. As well as great content, there's a stack of additional perks such as free shipping on purchases, kindle books, music and more. It's one of the best value offers in Australia.