Amazon Unveils Unlimited Streaming For Prime Members

Amazon.com, Inc. said its Prime members can now stream unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of more than 5,000 movies and TV shows at no additional cost.

Prime membership will continue to be $79 per year, the company said in a statement.

Millions of Amazon Prime members already enjoy the convenience of free Two-Day Shipping, said Robbie Schwietzer, vice president of Amazon Prime. Adding unlimited instant access to thousands of movies and TV shows at no additional cost is a great way to give members even more value for their $79 annual Amazon Prime membership.

Washington-based Amazon said movies and TV shows included with an Amazon Prime membership can be watched instantly on Macs, PCs and nearly 200 models of Internet-connected TVs, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes that are compatible with Amazon Instant Video.

Amazon Instant Video is a digital video service offering customers more than 90,000 commercial-free movies and television shows to buy or rent on an a la carte basis. New-release movies are often available as soon as they are released on DVD, and many TV shows are available the day after their first broadcast.

With Amazon Instant Video customers can rent or purchase hit movies, such as 'The Social Network' as well as purchase the latest TV shows available the day-after they broadcast, said Cameron Janes, director of Amazon Instant Video in a statement.

The selection of videos available for instant streaming currently includes movies, such as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, Amadeus, Syriana, and Chariots of Fire, noted documentaries such as Food Inc., March of the Penguins and Ken Burns' National Parks.

TV shows, such as Doctor Who, Farscape, Fawlty Towers and children's shows, such as Arthur, Caillou, Super Why! and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood are also available for instant streaming.

Amazon Prime offers customers unlimited free Two-Day Shipping with no minimum purchase requirement for only $79 a year for items, including books, home and garden products, electronics, video games, clothing, accessories and beauty products.

With the introduction of Prime instant videos, free trial and paid Amazon Prime members in the U.S. now also have unlimited instant access to more than 5,000 videos, Amazon added.