• by P.J. Bednarski  @pjbtweet, April 18, 2016

Now, to get Amazon Prime, you don't need to sign up for a whole year. A notice on Amazon’s Web site Sunday announced that now users can get Amazon Prime for $10.99 a month, or even $8.99 a month for consumers who want the video service but not the free delivery of goods that comes with Prime membership.

Getting Prime on a monthly basis is no deal; the annual membership is $99 a year.

The new arrangement seems to be taking on Netflix, which recently raised its monthly subscriber cost to $9.99 for new customers.

It would seem that offering the new monthly deal allows Amazon to give viewers a way to see current Amazon original series, perhaps in binge mode, a few times a year rather than maintaining the service all year. As more consumers opt for OTT viewing, the Amazon alternative does provide a way to see video on a tighter budget, or sample it without making a larger commitment.