Amazon is adding Apple TV Plus to Prime Video, a move that could help bolster the iPhone maker's struggling streaming service. Apple TV Plus will be available on Prime Video in the US later this month as a monthly add-on for $9.99 – the same as you would otherwise pay Apple directly. The difference now is that Apple TV Plus is being promoted directly to Amazon's massive video subscriber base.
“What we offer our channel partners is hundreds of millions of subscribers around the world,” Prime Video CEO Mike Hopkins said at Bloomberg’s Screentime conference. “We are seeing a lot more engagement and are able to attract subscribers to these companies at a really attractive price.” Amazon takes a cut of revenue from streaming subscriptions purchased on its video platform, but the exact terms were not disclosed.
While Apple TV Plus has been praised for its list of shows like Severance pay, Ted LassoAnd FoundationThe service is struggling to gain ground against Prime Video, Netflix, Max, Disney Plus and Hulu – the five streaming platforms with the most subscribers in the US. According to streaming guide JustWatch, Paramount Plus overtook the service in market share last quarter, and market research firm Antenna reports that Apple TV Plus has some of the highest subscription cancellation rates among streaming providers.
Apple TV Plus' availability within Prime Video isn't quite the same as bundled offerings like Netflix's all-in-one offerings, Peacock and Comcast's Apple TV Plus, but the goal is the same – getting more customers and reducing cancellation rates The audience is becoming tired of managing an ever-increasing number of subscriptions and apps.
For Amazon, Apple TV Plus joins the 100+ streaming service add-ons already available through Prime Video Channels. According to Hopkins, this is all part of the company's plan to become a global “first-stop entertainment hub,” a goal Apple once had for Apple TV.