Amazon’s Prime Video adds Apple TV Plus as a subscription add-on
Amazon and Apple, two giants from Silicon Valley, will collaborate more closely in the field of streaming.
Later this month, Apple TV+ will be available in the US through Prime Video as an add-on subscription for $9.99 per month, Amazon announced on Wednesday.
Apple TV+ joins Prime Video’s collection of more than 100 add-on subscription options in the US, including Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max, Paramount Global’s Paramount+, Sony’s Crunchyroll and Amazon-owned MGM+.
The deal to bring Apple TV+ into Prime Video is part of Amazon’s strategy to unify as many entertainment options for customers as possible – available on one bill, in one app.
“Prime Video is a premier entertainment destination with a wide choice of premium programming,” said Mike Hopkins, SVP and head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, in announcing the pact. “As we continue to expand our offerings and make it easy for customers to personalize their streaming experience directly in one app, we are proud to welcome Apple TV+ and its popular and critically acclaimed shows, movies and events to Prime Video.”
The two companies already collaborate on devices: Amazon’s Fire TV family offers a native Apple TV+ app and the Apple TV 4K boxes stream Prime Video. But the new deal takes their business partnership to a new level. Amazon cuts subscription revenue by a certain percentage for streaming services purchased through Prime Video, but does not make these terms public.
At the Bloomberg Screentime conference in LA Thursday evening, Hopkins was asked how the Prime Video distribution deal benefits Apple, to which he responded that Amazon could offer Apple TV+ to “hundreds of millions of subscribers around the world.”
Last April, CEO Andy Jassy said Prime Video had surpassed 200 million monthly viewers. That number doesn’t indicate engagement, where Prime Video trails Netflix: For example, in August 2024, Netflix had 7.9% of total U.S. TV viewing time, versus 3.1% for Prime Video, according to Nielsen.
Apple TV+ offers a range of original programs including ‘Severance’, ‘Slow Horses’, ‘The Morning Show’, ‘Presumed Innocent’, ‘Shrinking’, ‘Hijack’, ‘Loot’, ‘Palm Royale’ and films such as “Wolfs ” with Brad Pitt and George Clooney and “The Instigators” with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. The streaming service also offers Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball games.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Services, said in a statement: “We want to bring Apple TV+ and its award-winning library of shows and films from the world’s greatest storytellers to as many viewers as possible. We are thrilled that Prime Video will now offer Apple TV+, giving viewers an incredible range of viewing options.”
Prime Video is one of the main benefits of the Prime membership program, which costs $139 per year in the US (or $14.99 per month). Alternatively, consumers can sign up for a standalone Prime Video membership for $8.99 per month.
In January, Prime Video started showing ads by default on TV shows and movies and offered customers the option to pay an extra $2.99 per month for an ad-free experience. (Disgruntled Prime users have sued Amazon over the change; the company is trying to dismiss the lawsuit.) This summer, the company revamped Prime Video’s user interface, aiming to increase engagement and make it easier to see what there is included, at no additional cost to the streaming service.
Prime Video’s original programming includes Amazon MGM Studios-produced series and films such as ‘Road House,’ ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,’ ‘Fallout,’ ‘Reacher,’ ‘The Boys’ and ‘The Idea or You” plus licensed content. Live sports on the service includes the NFL’s Thursday Night Football, WNBA and NWSL.
