Amazon’s video service, Prime Video, is coming to India as it forged tie-ups with Dharma Productions some time back. It is a direct competitor to foreign born – Netflix and Indian born – Voot, Hotstar and Bigflix. Video-on-demand is the next hottest segment in India and a lot of companies are fighting for the top spot.
According to new information from The Grand Tour, a British motoring television series exclusive to Amazon Video presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, the show will be made available to 200 countries in December 2016, and India should be on the list of these countries.
We will be available in 200+ countries in December. Sign-up at https://t.co/hhVK9rx0cv for the latest updates. https://t.co/j7NNlRJwVI
— The Grand Tour (@thegrandtour) November 16, 2016
This is one of the hints at a December launch in India, almost a year after Netflix launched in the country. Netflix launched in India at a time Indian counterparts like Voot, Hotstar and YuppTV had already set their ground and were getting popular.
The Amazon Video page mentions, “The Grand Tour launches in the UK, US, Germany, Austria and Japan this Friday, 18 November. In December, the show will premiere in 200 countries and territories around the world, exclusively on Amazon. Fans from around the globe will be able to catch up on all episodes aired to date. New episodes will be released weekly, every Friday, worldwide.”
The hosts of this new show come from Top Gear, a highly successful British television series about motor vehicles. The Grand Tour is also expected to be on similar lines, and since it is Amazon Prime exclusive, all Prime members in India will get to watch it for free. For the time being, the service seems to be free at no added cost to the Prime membership.
Will Amazon Prime Video defeat Netflix in the race?
With a massive expansion plan to over 200 countries, Netflix could be left behind unless the company tries to get into some new territories. Netflix is at the moment in 190 countries, a feat it remarked upon early this year.
Although Netflix is a household name in terms of video-on-demand service, Amazon is getting into new segments and forming a name of its own. Naturally Netflix has more number of subscribers right now, over 80 million, as it was very early in its segment, and Amazon has lot of catching up to do.
However, Amazon Prime has made some interesting partnerships with global production houses for this massive expansion. Netflix should be worried because the Prime Video service will have some exclusive content that could steer away some subscribers.
China remains the only country where Netflix doesn’t exist yet. Keeping aside that, pretty much every country will now have Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Now it’s just a matter of fact of content because both the video services have been tested extensively.
As the service launches in India in December 2016, it is important to note the subscription prices. Netflix tariff rates start at Rs. 500 and go upto Rs. 850 per month, while Amazon Prime subscription costs Rs 999 per year, which is significantly lower. Also, as an introductory offer, Amazon Prime can be subscribed for Rs. 499 right now.
The choice is completely yours, because exclusive content is finally what distinguishes the two. As soon as Prime video launches in India, you will get the clarity on that and can decide which service is the best for you.
