Roku is in danger of losing Amazon Prime Video from its programming options. Android Police reports that Roku is currently in a battle with Amazon over the fate of IMDb TV, which puts Amazon Prime Video in jeopardy. The report notes that Amazon’s flagship video service requires a paid subscription, but IMDb TV is free with ads. The service has been great, with IMDb offering exclusive original content as well. New programming set to drop on the streaming platform includes Judy Justice, the continuation of Judge Judy.
The problem is that Amazon pairs both Prime Video and IMDb TV together as a bundle when negotiating contracts, making it an all-in-one deal. As suspected, Prime Video offers a wider range of content and has more subscribers as IMDb TV continues to attract an audience. Amazon is suspected to request access to more user data from Roku, something that the report notes hardware developers are not fans of.
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The latest bout of Roku’s contract negotiations comes amid them losing their battle to Google for YouTube. YouTube is the most in-demand platform in the U.S. The fight between Google and Roku boiled down to Google wanting data and search results. In the end, Google announced it would pull YouTube from all new devices beginning in Dec.
The difference between Amazon’s battle with Roku and Google is that Roku has more to lose if they don’t give in to what Amazon is asking for. Roku sells many of their gadgets, including their televisions, through Amazon’s online retailer. It’s suspected that they do not want to lose that option.
In the past, Amazon has created competitive products with their former partners when things went array. Or, they’ve refused to sell their previous partners’ products overall. Issues between Google and Amazon resulted in the retailer pulling its Chromecast products. Amazon eventually created a rival product: the Amazon Fire TV Stick.
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