Amazon expands streaming offerings with Apple TV+

Amazon has announced plans to include the streaming service Apple TV+ in its Channels Store offering in the U.S. This means that successful series such as "Ted Lasso" and "Slow Horses" will be available for the first time in Amazon Prime's extensive video offering. This was announced by Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Amazon Prime Video, at the Bloomberg Screentime Conference in Los Angeles. Apple will begin offering TV+ subscriptions through Amazon Prime later this month. According to Hopkins, Amazon provides its partner channels access to hundreds of millions of subscribers worldwide. The inclusion of Apple TV+ enhances this reach and offers new partners the opportunity to reach a broader audience. Prime Video currently offers more than 100 streaming services through its Channels Store, including Max, Paramount+, and Hallmark. However, major players like Netflix and the main offerings of Walt Disney are still missing from this format. Although Apple TV+ has invested billions in original content and received numerous awards in recent years, it has not yet been able to match the subscriber numbers of Netflix and Amazon. This agreement deepens the existing partnership between Amazon and Apple. Since 2017, the Prime Video app has been available on the Apple TV set-top box, and it is integrated into the Apple TV app on various Apple devices. In addition, Apple operates an official store on Amazon.com. Hopkins also mentioned that he expects more consolidation within the media industry and that Amazon will soon make profits with its streaming service. At the conference, Cristobal Valenzuela, co-founder of the AI startup Runway, presented a technology that allows producers of films and series to create lifelike images. These innovations would help artists tell better stories, rather than threaten them.