across the streaming-verse

Amazon Wants All of the BBC’s Shows to Itself

The streaming wars continue. As television viewing increasingly moves to digital platforms, Amazon is aggressively stepping up its game to defeat competitors. Starting February 15, Doctor Who, along with the majority of BBC programming, will disappear from Amazon Prime. The Verge reports that the problem was exclusivity: Amazon didn’t want competitors like Netflix to carry the shows at the same time. So far, Amazon’s contracts haven’t required exclusivity, which is why you can watch Doctor Who on both Prime and Netflix. Amazon has been pursuing this as a long-term strategy, closing exclusivity deals on critical darlings like Hannibal and The Americans. It appears to be working: Membership grew over 53 percent last year. It’s an all-or-nothing relationship with Amazon.

Amazon Wants BBC Shows All to Itself