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Amazon Denies Plans for an Ad-Subsidized Streaming Video Service

It looks amazon-tv[1]like the I may have gotten ahead of myself yesterday. Amazon is now denying the WSJ story about free internet TV service:

Amazon.com Inc has no plan to offer a free streaming TV service, a spokeswoman said on Friday following a report that the online retailer might turn up the heat against Netflix and Hulu.

Speculation about Amazon’s plans for its TV service, including the possibility that it could launch its own streaming device, has increased ahead of a news conference in New York next week.

Whoops.

Still, in spite of what Amazon says, I do expect them to launch this service. They’re already selling ads on their website, and on both the Kindle ereaders and the Kindle Fire tablets, and since they already have the tech to add commercials to streaming video under development I think it will be deployed eventually.

But at this point Amazon is clear that it is not on the agenda: "We have a video advertising business that currently offers programs like First Episode Free and ads associated with movie and game trailers, and we’re often experimenting with new things," Amazon spokesperson Sally Fouts said in an email on Friday. "But we have no plans to offer a free streaming media service."

Does anyone want to guess how long it will be before Amazon changes their mind?

Reuters

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Comments


fjtorres March 28, 2014 um 4:06 pm

Hulu plus has ads on some (most?) TV episodes and it’s not free.


Paul March 28, 2014 um 4:51 pm

Until sales of their tablets drop again and suddenly it will be an option, so I’m thinking June.

Nate Hoffelder March 29, 2014 um 8:29 am

They just put the tablets on sale again yesterday, so I’m thinking it’s it’s going to happen even sooner than that.


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