In a bid to give tough competition to rival streaming service Netflix, Amazon has announced re-branding of its VoD service LoveFilm Instant as Prime Instant Video in Germany and the UK.
As part of the re-branding, LoveFilm Instant will be merged with Amazon’s Prime subscription service to offer members DVD streaming, borrowing of up to 500,000 Kindle ebooks and unlimited free one-day delivery of products purchased online on Amazon.
Amazon acquired UK-based LoveFilm in 2011 for around £200 million ($333 million). Currently, LoveFilm Instant offers unlimited streaming of more than 15,000 movies and TV episodes, including The Walking Dead, Peppa Pig and season two of Vikings, available the day after the US premiere.
The Prime Instant Video re-branding will come into effect from February 26 and will see the end of the Lovefilm brand as a streaming service. However, the video streaming brand will continue to be used for the DVD by post rental business Amazon is continuing to run.
As part of a five day promotion campaign, the retailing giant has announced that customers signing up for the new package before February 26 will be charged £49, while the customers signing up post February 26 will be charged £79 for unlimited one day delivery and unlimited streaming of over 15k movies and TV episodes.
Tim Leslie, vice-president of Amazon Instant Video for the UK and Germany said “Millions of customers in the US have streaming video included as part of their Prime membership and they tell us they love the combination of unlimited delivery, the ability to borrow Kindle books, and convenient access to thousands of the most popular movies, TV shows and exclusive videos.
“We are delighted to be bringing that same combination of services to the UK, providing members truly unique benefits they can enjoy every day of the year” said Greg Greeley, Vice President of Amazon Prime.
