Amazon Reportedly Cancels Plans To Launch 'Skinny Bundle' TV Streaming Service

Amazon has reportedly scrapped its plans to launch a new online TV streaming service that’s akin to YouTube TV and Hulu Live TV. The company is said to have canceled its plans because it believes that the TV streaming service wouldn’t make enough money.

Amazon’s planned online TV service would have provided customers with a limited bundle of key broadcast and networks for a monthly fee. However, Amazon has decided to cancel it since the company believes that it wouldn’t yield high profit margins, and it was also unable to secure deals with networks. Amazon has since backed away from all negotiations with those networks, according to Reuters.

Offering a limited number of channels like this is called in the industry as a “skinny bundle” and is primarily aimed at younger customers who prefer to break away from traditional cable or satellite TV programming. It’s a more convenient TV service that allows customers to watch their favorite shows on their smartphones, tablets and PCs. The service would have been similar to other online TV streaming services like YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, AT&T DirectTV Now and PlayStation Vue.

Although Amazon has stopped all talks with networks, the company could still change its plans and decide to move forward with the skinny bundle service. For now, it looks like Amazon’s online TV streaming service isn’t happening, but it still has other plans to improve its current Prime Video streaming service.

Amazon is said to be focusing on improving its Amazon Channels service that’s currently available to its Prime customers. Amazon Channels allows customers to subscribe to cable channels on an a la carte basis. Some of the cable networks that are part of Amazon Channels include HBO, Showtime and Starz.

Those cable channels mentioned above already have their own respective online streaming services, but the benefit of having Amazon Channels would mean that all of those would be grouped together and are watchable through a single app, Amazon Video. Amazon Channels has now expanded globally and currently offers 140 channels in the United States, according to TechCrunch.

Unfortunately, sources also said that Amazon was unable to get the most watched TV channels since negotiations with networks have allegedly stalled. Amazon seems to be facing similar challenges that Apple and Verizon faced when trying to build their own cable bundle for their TV services. Networks typically require cable companies to bundle their weaker channels alongside their stronger ones. Amazon allegedly didn’t want to do that for its Amazon Channels service.

Sources say that Amazon is willing to wait for cable networks and media companies to change their minds on the matter. Amazon believes that TV networks would soon change their tune as pay-TV subscription continues to decline.

This news on Amazon’s plans for its TV offerings arrived at the heels of rumors that the company was developing a “freemium” ad-supported version of its Prime Video streaming service. An Amazon spokesperson has since denied that the company was developing such a service.

Amazon was also in the headlines this week as it officially confirmed that it was working on a new TV series based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” books. The upcoming new show is confirmed to include new storylines set before the events of “The Fellowship of the Ring” and that there is potential to create additional spin-offs.