Amazon Plans To Take on Roku By Vastly Expanding Its Free Ad-Supported Streaming Services: Report

Amazon is planning a vast expansion of its free streaming service on its Fire TV devices and has asked marketers to commit millions of dollars to support new channels and expanded content offerings, multiple people who held discussions with the company told Cheddar. From a report: Amazon has talked to executives at media companies and advertising agencies about its plans to include more ad-supported streaming channels to compete with Roku and Pluto TV, which offer free access to TV shows and movies with commercials. Advertisers are reluctant to pledge millions of dollars before they know what content Amazon would make available on the new channels, sources said. Some buyers said Amazon is asking for as much as a large cable network for advertising commitments. Since contracts for shows and movies to appear on the new services Amazon is planning are still being negotiated, there's little guaranteed programming to advertise against.

Re:

[cayenne8]

I hope to fuck this isn't going to be implemented into the PRIME programming I get from Amazon with my Prime account.....that will be a NO GO for me.

Re:

[postbigbang]

Such things would be "Sub Prime".

Only you and Alexa will know.

Re:

[pr0fessor]

They have extra pay channels and a couple free ad supported channels already. (the free ad supported channels are available without logging in or from your prime account still with ads)

Re:

[DontBeAMoran]

Something something dark side.

Dear Roku

[Red_Forman]

Don't be afraid of Amazon. My next box is going to be a Roku for two reasons:
- less expensive than Apple TV
- you're getting AirPlay functions
- Unlike Amazon, I don't see Roku getting into a conflict of interests with Netflix, which is the only streaming service I use

Re:Dear Roku

[cayenne8]

Are you poor? Any TV in the last 5 years has a Netflix app built in.

I've yet to see a "smart" TV yet, that had apps on it with any sort of response time and interface yet that can rival a separate player.

They are PAINFULLY slow to work with....

Re:

[antdude]

And buggy! I hate having to power cycle smart TV, but then boxes too like DVRs, etc. :(

Re:

[CohibaVancouver]

Leave a smart tv connected to internet? So the manufacturer can send an update that borks the tv?

I have two "Smart" TVs in my house plugged into the Internet, Anonymous Coward - A Samsung and a Sony.

Neither of them automatically updates without asking me first, and if I want I can turn the update service off altogether.

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[ArchieBunker]

Those built in apps are pure garbage. Slow as fuck and clunky to use with a remote. I just picked up a small form factor i5 box and installed Slackware. All it does is run Sling in a browser and run it well. I tried Sling with an older Roku box and it was the slowest thing ever. Took several seconds to move one menu choice and the remote was terrible too.

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[sabbede]

Are you fiscally irresponsible? I'm not poor, but that doesn't mean I'm going to buy a new TV every 5 years. That's just wasting money on replacing something that works perfectly well.

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[WankerWeasel]

Good chance we'll see Roku get killed off. Their CEO has said that hardware isn't the key and they're moving away from it. The problem is that now Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Apple are all eating their attempt to get into content. TV makers are adding much of the functions they once provided, and that hardware market is going away. It's not looking good for them. I wouldn't want to buy into their hardware, knowing there's a good chance it will go unsupported in the future.

Re:Dear Roku

[harrkev]

Well, the one thing that Roku has going for them is that they are the "Switzerland" of the streaming world. They make the ONLY box that will support every streaming service that I can think of.

Fire TV? It won't let you watch anything from Google.
Chromecast? Sorry, no Amazon movies on there.

Roku also supports some of the smaller channels that you will never see on a regular smart TV, like Curiosity Stream and BritBox.

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[pnutjam]

I have an hp stream box [cnet.com] with Win10. I run it in tablet mode and it streams anything, runs Kodi and doesn't make any noise. I got it off craigslist afew years ago and it's discontinued.

Today, I'd go with something like this [amazon.com]. It's so much nicer to have a full pc that I can do what I want with.

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[Darinbob]

Their announcement makes no sense. Roku is a device, not a streaming service. A new streaming "service" doesn't compete with a device. Also, Roku provides Amazon Streaming access to millions of people, they should be considered a partner to Amazon. Someone at Amazon appears to be confused.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Oh Good

[nehumanuscrede]

Because we just don't have quite enough advertising in our lives as it is :|

Re:

[omnichad]

What device do you have? The sticks are worthless. It was only the Roku 2 that had serious wireless compatibility issues as far as I've seen.

It's true that I use mine with Ethernet anyway, but I just didn't want to take the chance if I had the choice.

not good for prime members

[renegade600]

this means they will be pulling more content from prime video subscribers. It was bad enough t be in a middle of a prime video selection when it got moved to the amazons imdb freedive ad supported channel I guess they learned their lesson with the Anime Strike channel. that channel required a prime subscription and an additional subscription for the anime. nobody wanted to pay extra for the amazon channel so now they are trying ads..

as far as roku, I got tired of waiting through five minutes of comm

What about Google Play?

[omnichad]

I wouldn't want to buy an Amazon device because it can't run everything - a Roku can. Amazon is busy having a little fight with Google and they won't work with each other's services. If Amazon is smart, they'll just release their expanded service on Roku and get a lot more eyeballs on their advertising.

Except that's not why FireTV loses.

[sabbede]

Amazon's inability to get along with Netflix and Google (no YouTube on Fire) is why Roku makes FireTV look like a joke. That was the determining factor in my decision to go with Roku instead of Fire.