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Amazon, Viacom deal keeps many TV shows on Prime and Kindle, some exclusively
In May Netflix let a broad content deal with Viacom (parent company of Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV and more) expire and saw many of the network's shows disappear from its streaming service, but Amazon will not follow its lead. Today the company announced an extension in its own agreement with Viacom that not only keeps the TV shows (over 250 seasons including more than 3,900 episodes) but includes a provision for a "selection" of exclusives. That means Amazon will stream Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. kids shows like Dora the Explorer, The Backyardigans, Blues Clues and Victorious, with some available as part of the Kindle FreeTime Unlimited package on its tablets and some heading to Lovefilm in Germany and the UK later this summer. Other shows affected by the deal include current and upcoming ones from MTV and Comedy Central like Workaholics, Key and Peele and Awkward. For its part, Netflix has also expanded a deal with Disney and is even producing an original kids show of its own to follow up on projects like House of Cards and Arrested Development, but so is Amazon. As competition in the subscription streaming market intensifies expect to see more exclusives as studios play the services against each others to drive prices up -- as seen here, if one decides to invest more in original content and deals for specific content there will likely be a cost in other areas.
Amazon Kindle FreeTime Unlimited launches, bundles kid-friendly media, menu for a fee
We got a peek at Amazon's Kindle FreeTime during its press conference back in September, but now it's making the family-friendly feature part of a subscription package available across the family of Kindle Fire devices. More than just a submenu of video like the ones offered by Netflix and Hulu Plus, it resembles the Kid's Corner launcher in Windows Phone 8 by password locking children out of the rest of the device, but with a preselected package of content to fill it. Available to Prime subscribers for $2.99 per month, per child or for $6.99 for a family-wide license of up to six kids (don't have Prime? you can pick it up for $4.99/$9.99 a month), kids can browse through the selection of educational apps, games, books, movies and TV shows. It also throws in other features parents will dig, with a personalized login and bookmarks for the kids, plus the ability to set time limits on use that can be specifically tailored by category. All of this happens with them seeing any ads or racking up a bill for video on-demand or in-app purchases, since those hooks have been removed, creating an environment endorsed by Common Sense Media. Big names like Disney, Nickelodeon, DC Comics and PBS are all on the list, with the promise of a store of content to keep the little ones distracted/learning as long as necessary. To set it up on your device, you'll only need to create a FreeTime account if you haven't already, and hit the free trial button. Want to see it for yourself? The feature is available in an OTA software update rolling out over "the coming weeks" to the new Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9, with a free month of trial access available to owners. There are more details in the press release after the break, or beyond the source link.
