Amazon Aims At YouTube With New 'Video Direct'

Amazon today announced Amazon Video Direct, a competitor to the professional side of YouTube that will give those creators and others, and their advertisers, another place to display their material.

AVD seems to work in many-splintered ways. Videos can be shown free with ads or packaged as a subscription, or offered to rent or own outright. All this makes it clear that Amazon Video Direct was not designed with the casual, amateur YouTuber in mind.

Amazon said the new service would become a part of the Prime Video package that subscribers have already paid for; or available as an add-on subscription service. Or viewers can receive for free via Amazon, but with advertising.

For some YouTubers who struggle to monetize their uploads, the new service adds another advertising or subscription outlet. Amazon, like YouTube, will reportedly take 45% of the generated ad revenue and half of the rental or purchase fee.

YouTube has a decade-long head start, and Amazon does not have nearly the kind of worldwide video clout that YouTube does. The service, however, does give existing Prime customers a new programming source, and may serve as an inducement to convert Amazon tourists -- it has just allowed users to pay a monthly fee rather than the $99-a-year membership.

Launch partners include Conde Nast Entertainment, HowStuffWorks, Samuel Goldwyn Films, The Guardian, Mashable, Mattel, StyleHaul, Kin Community, Jash, Business Insider, Machinima, TYT Network, Baby Einstein, CJ Entertainment America, Xive TV, Synergetic Distribution, Kino Nation, Journeyman Pictures, and Pro Guitar Lessons.
1 comment about "Amazon Aims At YouTube With New 'Video Direct'".
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  1. Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, May 12, 2016 at 12:19 p.m.

    As Amazon will eventually learn---probably the hard way---it's fine to spend a lot of money using outside program content suppliers in an attempt to compete with Netflix---or anyone else---but the key to winning is getting content that people really want to watch---not once in a while, but fairly often. Does Amazon have its own, highly qualified program development staff that deals with  suppliers using some sort of coherent overall programming strategy---like a TV network --- or is it merely picking and choosing from what each producer has to offer on a case by case basis? Without a well thought out tactical as well as strategic strategy that takes into account what the "opposition" is doing, you are operating on a disjointed, pot luck, basis that, ultimately, spells trouble with a big T.

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