Amazon Makes Latest Content Deal With CBS As Apple War Rages

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), the No. 1 e-retailer, said it had expanded its content licensing with CBS Corp. (NYSE:CBS) to add more shows to its Amazon Prime service for Kindle Fire customers. Now shows will be available from Showtime Networks and CBS Television Distribution including “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

The Seattle, Wash.-based Amazon has been beefing up content available top its Kindle Fire customers as it battles Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), the most valuable technology company, for share in the market for tablets, users and advertisers. On Monday, Amazon made a deal with CBS to be the sole online subscription site for “Under the Dome,” a new series.

Terms weren’t disclosed.

Brad Beale, Amazon’s director of digital video content acquisition, said expanding the CBS offerings “continues to make Prime an even better deal.”

Scott Koondel, chief corporate licensing officer for New York-based CBS, said he was pleased “the appetite for CBS programming continues to be very healthy.”Amazon also arranged to license the PBS hit series “Downton Abbey” on an exclusive basis this month.

Amazon said its Prime Instant Video library now has 36,000 titles.

By contrast, Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., says its iTunes Store now has 45,000 movies and 3,000 TV shows.

Shares of Amazon rose $10.83 to close at $269.53, while CBS shares fell 53 cents to close at $42.69 in Wednesday trading.