• Red Herring, Monday, January 30, 2006 2:28 PM

After announcing just days ago that it was preparing to launch a streamed show featuring TV host/comedian Bill Maher, Amazon.com, the online retailer, has indicated that it has plans to make available a full roster of products that can be downloaded for a price. Details of the plan have not been announced, but Red Herring, citing a report in Variety.com, says that Amazon "is in talks with various studios, such as Image Enertainment... and First Look Entertainment, to get digital content for the service. It will launch the service with at least two major names as partners." It's thought that Amazon will sell streamed audio and DVDs at first. Digital downloads of books could occur as well. "The online video business is heating up, with companies like Apple and Google making aggressive forays in it," Red Herring says. This may have some impact, albeit a small one, on creators of content, as a company such as Amazon has an enormous ability to sell product.

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