The world’s biggest digital department store is taking on video streaming with the launch of Amazon Video Direct.
The new platform created by Amazon is a call to arms in the battle for YouTube and other’s video advertising dollars and IPTV traffic. Open to any video creator, Amazon Video Direct gives content makers four distribution options. The choices include: content can be made available to Prime Video subscribers on a per-hour royalty fee; content can be sold as an add-on subscription via the Streaming Partners Program; it can be offered as a digital rental or purchase; or it can be made available to all Amazon customers for free with ads- in this scenario video creators will get a 55% share of the ad revenue.
In a YouTube style approach, Amazon has also introduced the “AVD Stars” program which allocates USD$1 million per month to reward top-performing video creators and give them an incentive to add their content to Prime Video. The AVD Stars fund is eligible to providers who stream content starting on June 1.
The incentive to video creators is that the content can be marketed to Amazon’s millions of online shoppers, and pushed with their sophisticated recommendation engines.
“There are more options for distribution than ever before and with Amazon Video Direct, for the first time, there’s a self-service option for video providers to get their content into a premium streaming subscription service,” Amazon Video VP Jim Freeman said.
Amazon Video Direct’s launch partners feature an impressive line-up including Conde Nast Entertainment, Samuel Goldwyn Films, the Guardian, Mashable, Mattel, Business Insider, Machinima, TYT Network, Baby Einstein, Journeyman Pictures and Pro Guitar Lessons.
Other AVD benefits include device wide support including iOS and Android tablets and phones, connected TVs, Amazon Fire TV devices and game consoles. Amazon will also provide detailed performance metrics, such as number of minutes a title was streamed, projected revenue, payment history and number of subscribers, and that video partners will have full control to make changes based on the data.
Video publishers can sign up for Amazon Video Direct at videodirect.amazon.com.
The Prime Video streaming service is currently operational in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Austria and Japan. More markets are to follow.
