Amazon says streaming by members of its Prime Instant Video has increased by over 70% following the debut of original and exclusive movies and TV shows.
The retailer, which bought the UK’s Lovefilm business in 2011, points to the launch of hit exclusive TV shows including Extant, Vikings and Black Sails and ‘exclusive’ movies such as Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa and Horrible Bosses, along with Amazon Studios original comedies Alpha House and Betas and kids shows Tumble Leaf, Creative Galaxy and Annedriods.
The US TV drama Extant (pictured), featuring Halle Berry’s TV debut, has become the second most watched TV series on the service with each new episode released each Thursday.
Amazon has increased the installed base of the service by bundling it with the next day delivery ‘Amazon Prime’ used by purchasers of its packaged product.
“We are excited by the response from our customers to our increased investment in exclusive and original content since we launched Prime Instant Video as part of Amazon Prime six months ago,” said Tim Leslie, Vice President of Amazon Instant Video in Europe. “Over the past few months we have continued to make improvements to delight our customers: we have launched on new devices, added new functionality and most importantly added great new and exclusive movie and TV content”
On August 28, Amazon also launched five new TV pilots from from critically-acclaimed creators including Shaun Cassidy, Jay Chandrasekhar, Marc Forster, Steven Soderbergh and Whit Stillman and starring noted talent including Selma Blair, Adam Brody, Sarah Chalke, Dana Delany, Ron Perlman, Paul Reiser, Chloë Sevigny and Mena Suvari. Customers are able to provide feedback on the shows they want to see turned into full series.