Amazon launches free streaming service – but there's a catch

Created: 04/08/2022 14:28

After Amazon increased the prices for its Prime offer, there is now news again.

A free streaming service should be easy on the wallet.

Berlin – There are signs of a trend in the booming streaming market.

For the Germans it is nothing new in itself.

For decades we have been used to the fact that commercial television and selectively in the TV program of public service advertising flickers into our living rooms.

The US Internet company Amazon is also focusing on advertising revenue with a new streaming offer.

Users watch series with commercial breaks, but it's all free.

How strong will this trend be in this country?

Amazon: Advertising financing in streaming increasingly important

When streaming – i.e. the retrieval of moving image content on the Internet on platforms apart from continuous, predetermined TV programs – became established, many providers relied on income from subscriptions instead of advertising.

Netflix, Disney+, Apple, DAZN, Sky and Amazon with its Prime Video streaming service rely on the subscription card.

Many Germans like to stream and have several subscriptions at the same time - Netflix and Amazon are ahead in studies and with market observers in this country.

There are also mixed models: For example, the RTL Group's RTL+ and ProSiebenSat.1's Joyn platforms offer free advertising-financed offers, while there are also subscription models on these platforms.

Now advertising financing in streaming is getting a major boost with Amazon.

The advertising market is attractive for video providers, as has been seen for decades in the TV market, where billions in sales are generated.

Or also on Youtube.

Amazon Freevee: Stream movies and series for free

A closer look at the Amazon Freevee offer, which started on Wednesday: films and series are shown at no additional cost, but with commercial breaks.

After the USA and Great Britain, Germany is the third country in which this offer is placed.

"We offer users an offer that they would typically expect behind a paywall," said an Amazon spokesman for the

.

It will be a mix of in-house productions, external films and series, as well as perspectively linear TV channels.

Amazon Freevee will initially offer thematically programmed linear live channels - for example BBC Food or BBC Travel.

All channels are available in German.

The co-head of Amazon's content business, Ryan Pirozzi, told

about the goal of Amazon Freevee: "We want to reach as many customers as possible." The group did not name a target for Amazon Freevee in terms of customers and sales in Germany.

Austria is to follow as another European country at a later date.

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Amazon Freevee “could reshape the streaming market”

Amazon is already present in the streaming market with Prime Video.

The moving image service is part of the Prime subscription, with which you can also listen to music or save on shipping costs when shopping on the Amazon platform.

Recently the subscription price increased.

The consulting and market research company Goldmedia sees possible effects from the new free Amazon service.

Goldmedia Managing Director Klaus Goldhammer told

about the offer: "This could relaunch the streaming market in Germany." Those who have shied away from a subscription could now be attracted.

Likewise younger people who do not have the purchasing power.

Goldhammer also assumes that there will be an impact on the traditional television advertising market.

Linear private TV broadcasters such as the RTL Group or ProSiebenSat.1 could face competition because advertisers might go to Amazon Freevee.

For public service broadcasting with ARD and ZDF, which are currently expanding their media libraries and streaming services, new competitive pressure could arise, added Goldhammer.

Because people who wanted to stream without a subscription and found what they were looking for on ARD and ZDF now have another option to choose from.