Amazon.com began by selling books online; but once the online retailer had become the biggest virtual bookstore in the world, they set their sights even higher, branching out into electronics, clothing and all manner of retail items. Later, they took on the mighty iTunes to compete in the online digital music arena. And now, they’re taking things one step further by preparing to offer HDTV shows from a variety of networks and independent producers.
Amazon seems determined to challenge Apple’s iTunes as an online distributor of media content, both MP3s, and now high-definition digital video. The company’s latest venture will put them in direct competition with iTunes, offering a variety of HDTV programming, and coincidentally (or not) priced exactly the same as iTunes: three dollars per episode.
While there are other online distributors that are already competing with Apple, none of them have the infrastructure and massive user base that Amazon.com can boast. But will Amazon be able to knock iTunes off their spot as the top online media retailer? The jury still out on that one — although the Amazon MP3 store has been successful, they continue to lag behind iTunes in the sale of downloadable music and other audio content.
Wired.com is reporting that Amazon will even offer a “season pass” to watch an unlimited number of high-definition shows, competitively priced at around $53. The shows will purportedly be streamed uninterrupted, and without commercial advertisements for subscribers to the new service.
Already, Amazon has been testing out the new high-definition video service among TiVo users. For the last two weeks, TiVo users have been able to access the Amazon HD programs, and so far at least, user’s surveys indicate a high level of satisfaction with the service, especially the robust surround sound on offer and the pristine quality of the video.
Not to be outdone, iTunes has recently unveiled a new plan to distribute HD TV movies (but not many TV shows as yet) through their online portal. Movie rentals for new releases on iTunes are currently priced at five dollars each, and films can be purchased outright for about $20.
With the “over the air” television networks struggling, it seems clear that the future of high-definition TV and movies will be on the Internet. The only question is which company will lead the way into the new online media world.
Amazon.com has not announced when their new HD TV service will be operational, but most pundits speculate it will be online and available to the public within the next six weeks.
As an idea, using Google’s Android applications & service in Australia through Optus, it may be one way of distributing content by merging with Google. Even by running a few videos advertising what products Amazon has compared to iTunes on You Tube may help get the message out to the wider community.
Comment by frank burns — March 30, 2009 @ 8:25 am