Amazon Brings Showtime, Starz and Other Video Services to Prime As Add-Ons

Variety
Janko Roettgers

Amazon’s Prime members just got a new perk: Showtime and Starz, unbundled and cheap. The internet company launched a new initiative called “Streaming Partners Program” Tuesday that allows Prime members to add subscription programming from close to 20 partners for an added fee to their Prime video service…

Some of the add-on programming includes Showtime, Starz, the Lifetime Movie Club, AMC’s Shudder and SundanceNow subscription services, Comedy Central’s Standup+ Service, Acorn TV, Dramafever, the Dove Channel, IndieFlix and Ring TV Boxing. Consumers will be able to pick and choose these add-ons on an a la carte basis, and change their lineup month to month.

It’s the first time that Starz is available to consumers outside of a traditional pay TV bundle; Starz CEO Chris Albrecht has in the past talked about embracing OTT, but the premium network has trailed its competitors HBO and Showtime in launching a standalone service. Albrecht said in a statement that he was excited to be an Amazon launch partner, adding: “This is a terrific product for customers to conveniently navigate their entertainment options quickly, easily and anywhere.”

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Add-on subscriptions are available through Amazon’s video app on Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, Roku, Fire TV and other supported devices, which the company touts as an easier way to consume subscription video services. Consumers can, however, also use their Amazon credentials to log into the stand-alone apps of participating services, which will be good news to anyone looking to stream any of this programming on Chromecast or Apple TV. Amazon is currently embroiled in a dispute with both companies, and has yet to extend Prime video support to their platforms.