Amazon announced this morning that they’ve added ITV Hub and All 4, the free on-demand digital catch-up services from ITV and Channel 4, to all versions of Fire TV.
“With BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4 and My5, every single UK customer with a Fire TV or Fire TV Stick now has access to all of the UK’s most popular catch-up services,” said Jorrit Van der Meulen, Vice President, Amazon Devices EU. “Add these to Amazon Video, Prime Video, Netflix, UKTV Play, YouTube.com, Vevo, Curzon Home Cinema and many more, and it’s clear that Fire TV customers can enjoy access to a vast and growing range of content. Whether its bingeing on the latest series, watching a film, playing games or catching up with a favourite show, Fire TV customers can do it all—and we’re adding more channels, apps and games every day“.
You might wonder why Amazon are investing so much in TV and it is of course all to do with Amazon Prime. Once you’ve got a Fire TV Stick you’re not wanting to stop at watching catch up TV, you’re going to want to watch movies and they come for free with a Prime membership. Once you’ve got a Prime membership you get all Amazon or third party products Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) for free next day delivery.
Amazon know that Prime customers spend twice as much as non-Prime customers, plus they can introduce them to Amazon Now and Amazon Pantry and a raft of other benefits. The Fire TV Stick, despite it’s name, has nothing to do with TV in Amazon’s plans. It’s all about Amazon Prime and driving sales.
ITV Hub and All 4 are available for all Fire TV and Fire TV Stick customers to download from the Fire TV Appstore from today. Amazon Fire TV Stick is available from £34.99 and Amazon Fire TV with 4K UD is available for £79.99.
