Amazon prime sign 'top gear' trio

[MitchT]

Problem is, it's not just paying for Amazon Prime, it's paying for the better broadband service I'll need to allow the quantity of data required to start streaming TV at a resolution that's fit for purpose. Hopefully the repeats on Dave won't be too far behind!

[JagLover]

jonm01 said:

£80 odd to get Prime.

To be honest it's worth that just for the next day delivery which also includes Saturday and Sunday.

This basically

I subscribe mainly for the delivery and occasionally get to watch a movie as a bonus.

They tend to have better movies than Netflix.

[otolith]

We've got Prime. Until now I didn't realise it got us anything more than free next day delivery. It easily works out cheaper for us than paying delivery charges. Apparently there is an iPad app which will stream Amazon content to the Apple TV thingy, but it's probably going to be easier just to fork out £35 for a FireStick.

It will be interesting to compare it to continuation Top Gear.

[suffolk009]

As an existing Prime customer, I'm quite happy about this. Suits me just fine.

My mother (aged 80-something) used to enjoy watching Top Gear. What worries me is that I've only just got past having to print out webpages that's she's read about in the newspaper and put them in the post for her. Now with this new show being on the internet, she'll be asking me to video it for her and send her the tape in a jiffy bag...

[Otispunkmeyer]

RemyMartin said:

Looks like i will signing up for that and stream it to my chromecast. Sorted. Free one day delivery is a bonus I buy a fair amount on Amazon and Im an impatient bugger at the best of times.

Can the chromecast actually do this? I was under the impression it couldn't because Amazon wouldn't share the API. There are of course other ways, but something that works like casting YT videos was off the table?

[KarlMac]

FFS.

Hopefully by 2016 Openreach will have sorted my connection beyond its current 1.5mbps.

It'd be nice to choose if I want prime.

[suffolk009]

DonkeyApple said:

Ruffy94 said:

I did one of amazon's free trials for Prime and as far as I could see it was a waste of money. Anything free was either recent stuff that hadn't done so well (so it was free) or shows/movies that were so old you can see them being re-run weekly on tv. £80 a year plus extra on top to get the best latest shows and movies?

Id be interested to know how many people watched Top Gear because it was easy (on bbc etc, licence fee already paid) and then how many of them will actually want to splash out on Prime just to watch them.

i

I think it also means you can get your Chinese, plastic tat delivered quicker.

But my understanding of Prime is that there is also premium ppv content in there also? So not sure if this show would be free under the basic subscription or ppv.

Amazon twittering that it will be free to all Prime customers.

[selym]

bullies180 said:

Well the girlfriend tried the amazon prime trial and forgot to cancel it in time so we will get his hoorah!

I bet there are more than a few on here in that same situation. See, forgetfulness has its benefits.

[NelsonP]

I can see this is going to reduce their audience numbers quite a bit:
1. Must have broadband > 3Mbps
2. Must have a TV capable of accessing content on Amazon prime - or not mind having yet another box plugged into the TV (and remote!).
3. Ideally hasn't already subscribed to another streaming service e.g. Netflix, or is happy to pay to subscribe to multiple streaming services
4. Must want to watch top gear enough to prioritise it above all of the other streaming content that is available when they sit down to watch telly

I guess that Amazon probably offered more money, but they won't be reappearing on my TV, much as I enjoyed the old show :-(

[130R]

boxst said:

I'm surprised they can afford the top gear lot but I'm looking forward to watching it!

Amazon has revenue of something like $90 billion and the CEO is Jeff Bezos, I think they can just about afford it!

I already have prime so this is great news IMO.

[Mr_B]

It's going to be a full time job for someone to stop the show being uploaded to the internet immediately after broadcast.

[TommoAE86]

Bit disappointed really, tried both and stuck with Netflix as it was a vastly superior service for me. Don't overly like amazon but I still buy things that I can't get anywhere else so can't be too critical. Next Day delivery is wasted on me, a whopping 3 things I've bought this year... Bye bye that trio!

[DonkeyApple]

130R said:

boxst said:

I'm surprised they can afford the top gear lot but I'm looking forward to watching it!

Amazon has revenue of something like $90 billion and the CEO is Jeff Bezos, I think they can just about afford it!

I already have prime so this is great news IMO.

And I would imagine that general production costs of a studio orientated TG show would be cheaper than set and location costs of other shows they produce?

[suffolk009]

DonkeyApple said:

130R said:

boxst said:

I'm surprised they can afford the top gear lot but I'm looking forward to watching it!

Amazon has revenue of something like $90 billion and the CEO is Jeff Bezos, I think they can just about afford it!

I already have prime so this is great news IMO.

And I would imagine that general production costs of a studio orientated TG show would be cheaper than set and location costs of other shows they produce?

Only amateur cooking competitions cost less.

[boxst]

130R said:

boxst said:

I'm surprised they can afford the top gear lot but I'm looking forward to watching it!

Amazon has revenue of something like $90 billion and the CEO is Jeff Bezos, I think they can just about afford it!

I already have prime so this is great news IMO.

They have revenue but little or no profit. Re-investing to gain market share. Top Gear doesn't really give them market share, but I guess they could spin it that it'll help their video business.

[Funk]

madbadger said:

HorneyMX5 said:

I can't help but think Netflixterrestrial would have been a better platform for viewer numbers but I suspect Amazon offered them more freedom and money.

EFA

Their contracts apparently forbid them from launching a rival show on another channel such as ITV or C4 for 2 years.

The Amazon deal also opens them up to the global audience who love TG, and beside which the UK contingent pales into insignificance.

[130R]

boxst said:

They have revenue but little or no profit. Re-investing to gain market share. Top Gear doesn't really give them market share, but I guess they could spin it that it'll help their video business.

Well it's to push their prime service I imagine. They already have more than 40 million subscribers to prime in the US alone which is up 50% in a year. It's a massive money spinner for them and probably encourages people to buy more stuff through Amazon as well because of the unlimited one-day delivery.

Also I can't believe people would rather this was on ITV or some other terrestrial channel. Terrestrial TV is basically dead.

[gregf40]

boxst said:

They have revenue but little or no profit. Re-investing to gain market share. Top Gear doesn't really give them market share, but I guess they could spin it that it'll help their video business.

You don't think getting hundreds of thousands of new Prime members will increase their market share?

[DonkeyApple]

boxst said:

130R said:

boxst said:

I'm surprised they can afford the top gear lot but I'm looking forward to watching it!

Amazon has revenue of something like $90 billion and the CEO is Jeff Bezos, I think they can just about afford it!

I already have prime so this is great news IMO.

They have revenue but little or no profit. Re-investing to gain market share. Top Gear doesn't really give them market share, but I guess they could spin it that it'll help their video business.

The Prime product is really all about carving out a share of the online content market. The quick postage element isn't core but rather an incentive to encourage their core traditional client base to adopt Prime over Netflix etc.

The market shows that the average consumer tends to just sign up to one service at a time. For example, the Amazon dongle thing is more about using a tangible product to help retain existing users as much as it is about reducing a hurdle that may be causing potential customers to use Netflix etc instead.

I think TG had millions of viewers worldwide and arguably much of this non domestic traffic is accessing BBC content through paying channels so exactly the sort of audience that is of value to Amazon.

I think it is fair to consider that a show such as new TG could add more new subscribers to Prime than any amount of equivalent, global marketing spend. It could add well over a million new users possibly?

[TheAngryDog]

DonkeyApple said:

At least it'll stop all BBC haters and the thousands of people who watched their old show just so they could whinge about it from cluttering the place up.

Doubtful, they'll pay the money for it just so that they can go on the new chm show thread and moan about it and say that they have no idea who the guest is this week lol.

suffolk009 said:

DonkeyApple said:

Ruffy94 said:

I did one of amazon's free trials for Prime and as far as I could see it was a waste of money. Anything free was either recent stuff that hadn't done so well (so it was free) or shows/movies that were so old you can see them being re-run weekly on tv. £80 a year plus extra on top to get the best latest shows and movies?

Id be interested to know how many people watched Top Gear because it was easy (on bbc etc, licence fee already paid) and then how many of them will actually want to splash out on Prime just to watch them.

i

I think it also means you can get your Chinese, plastic tat delivered quicker.

But my understanding of Prime is that there is also premium ppv content in there also? So not sure if this show would be free under the basic subscription or ppv.

Amazon twittering that it will be free to all Prime customers.

It's clever busines by Amazon. At less than £7 a month it's affordable to many, so they will get more new customers, they will likely sell more firetv's and sticks. They'll sell the episodes to other countries as well. I do not know if amazon put adverts on before shows, but if they do then they will make money from that.

I expect it'll be weekly, like new old tg, and retain more of the format. It will be interesting to see how this goes.