Jon Erlichman

Anchor

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Amazon (AMZN.O) announced on Wednesday it is rolling out its Prime Video streaming service in Canada, as well as more than 200 countries globally. The move officially introduces a new player to the Canadian media market, where rival Netflix (NFLX.O) has quickly been growing its presence.

“We are excited to announce that starting today, fans around the world have access to Prime Video,” said Tim Leslie, Amazon’s international vice-president of Prime Video, in a media release.

The rollout will include a number of Amazon’s original shows, including "The Grand Tour", "The Man in the High Castle", "Transparent", "Mozart in the Jungle", and the children’s show "Tumble Leaf".

Amazon says Prime Video will be available to Canadian users of its Prime membership at no additional cost. Canadians hoping to subscribe on a standalone basis are out of luck: an Amazon spokesperson told BNN via email the Video service will only be available to Prime customers.

The Prime two-day shipping service launched in Canada in 2013 and currently costs $79 for a membership. A similar plan has been rolled out in Belgium, France, India, Italy and Spain. In other markets, Amazon says the video streaming service will cost US$2.99 for the first six months.

Speculation had grown in recent weeks about the global launch, after former Top Gear Host Jeremy Clarkson tweeted about the upcoming release of his new Amazon original show, The Grand Tour. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos then clarified in a tweet of his own that the show would be available globally by December. A number of sources had told BNN that Amazon’s Prime Video launch in Canada was imminent. Robert Lantos, one of Canada's best-known film producers, had also said the launch would be “coming any day” during a BNN interview last month.

Amazon has been investing heavily in original programming to entice more of its customers to sign up for its Prime service. In the United States, Amazon charges a US$99 annual fee for free, two-day shipping on all items -- plus Prime Video, which offers both its own shows and licensed TV and movie programming.

Rolling out its video offering in Canada sets the stage for a fresh round of competition among streaming services. Both Netflix and Crave TV (which, like BNN, is owned by Bell Media) have seen their audiences grow, as more consumers seek to watch movies and TV shows on digital devices. 

Last month, Bell Media President Mary Ann Turcke spoke about the challenges that Canadian broadcasters face today amid rising competition from global streaming services like Netflix and the upcoming debut of Amazon.

“Now a new global OTT competitor – Amazon Prime is entering the Canadian market in just two days. So it’s not just our fellow Canadian broadcasters who will try to outbid us for a first run, original programming,” Turcke said during a Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission hearing on Nov. 29. “But it’s Netflix and now Amazon, two entities that are not subject to the same regulatory requirements as us and that have astronomically more buying power than we do.”

Ahead of its Canadian launch, Amazon had been quietly acquiring Canadian rights to a range of programming over the past year, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the company’s talks. Potential sellers of rights could include Sony, Fox, Entertainment One, and NBCUniversal.  BNN reached out to all the companies, but they did not respond to requests for comment. Amazon was also not available for comment.

Amazon had also been holding back on selling the global rights to some of its new original shows. “One example is The Man in the High Castle,” one source familiar with Amazon’s plans told BNN, “They’ve been shelving its release in countries outside the U.S. so they’ll have it available for the global release of Prime Video. As you can see, they’re doing the same with Jeremy Clarkson’s new show, The Grand Tour.”

“Amazon takes a thoughtful approach to video,” Smiletime CEO Alex Kruglov recently told BNN in a phone interview.  Kruglov previously served as head of content acquisition for U.S. streaming service Hulu. “Its core focus is on growing the community of Prime. And entertainment is an important vertical for them.” 

The recently announced shutdown of Shomi sparked speculation about Amazon’s own push in Canada. It’s not entirely clear which programs, if any, licensed by Rogers and Shaw would be available to Amazon at this time; that’s because of the existing agreements Shomi, Shaw and Rogers have. Regardless, a Rogers executive told BNN at the time of Shomi’s shutdown announcement, “it’s only a matter of time before Amazon announces its launch.”

BNN is a division of Bell Media, which is owned by BCE.