Amazon India to all set to launch Amazon Prime Video on 18 November

Amazon India is all set to launch its new product, the much-awaited Amazon Prime Video on 18 November and according to reports, it would be  included in the Prime subscription charge. This means that for Rs 499/year or Rs 42/month, Indian users, would, in addition to Prime Video and its huge catalogue of movies and TV shows, also get benefits like free one day delivery, no minimum order size and exclusive deals.

As against the subscription rates of Netflix and Hotstar, Amazon would be much lighter on consumers' wallets, according to commentators. Netflix starts at Rs500 per month and rises to Rs800 while HotStar subsription rate is Rs1,200 every year. Clearly, this could impact the video streaming scene in India.

As for content strategy, in an aggressive move, Amazon India has signed up partnerships with major Indian production houses to acquire exclusive rights to their existing as well as upcoming movie titles.Included in the tie-ups are ones with filmmaker SS Rajamouli, Graphic India and Arka Mediaworks to spin off blockbuster movie, Bahubali', into a new multi-episode animated series called 'Baahubali: The Lost Legends'.

Amazon India had also signed an agreement with T-Series, one of India's largest movie production and distribution studios. With the tie-up, Amazon India would get exclusive streaming rights of future titles from T-Series, ahead of their television premiere.

According to commentators, the cost to customers of the service in India would be much less than what customers in the US and UK paid for similar services in their own countries.

However, US and UK customers need not feel like they had been shortchanged as the two markets enjoyed a whole host of benefits, like free two-day shipping, music streaming service, unlimited books on Kindle, and free unlimited storage.