Apple TV+ Is Coming to Amazon Prime
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In a fascinating twist in Apple’s streaming ambitions, the company has brokered a deal with Amazon to offer Apple TV+ to Amazon Prime Members as an add-on subscription.
Amazon Prime has offered add-on subscriptions for years, allowing subscribers to tack extra streaming services onto their Prime subscription and have everything billed together. While these “channels” were initially aimed at smaller streaming services that folks were less likely to subscribe to individually, the offering has expanded to include major players like Max and Paramount+ in recent years.
As a result, Amazon has also dropped the “channels” branding. It now refers to these simply as “add-on subscriptions.” That’s probably fair, as most folks don’t consider Max a “channel” like Starz or Discovery.
Apple also has its own Apple TV Channels program that launched alongside Apple TV+ in 2019, although it’s turned out to be far less popular. Big services like Max that signed up at launch have since left the service, relegating it primarily to smaller players like Paramount+ and The Smithsonian Channel.
It never seemed likely we’d see Amazon Prime on Apple TV Channels, which makes Apple’s deal with Amazon all the more interesting.
According to Amazon’s announcement, is a one-way arrangement that will see Amazon Prime members able to sign up to watch Apple TV+ through the service, but there’s no reciprocal arrangement to bring Amazon Prime to Apple TV+ subscribers, or even allow folks to sign up for Prime Video through an in-app purchase — at least not that Amazon is mentioning (and Apple has said nothing about this apart from a quote in the Amazon press release).
Amazon Prime members won’t get a discount on Apple TV+ — it’s still priced at $9.99 per month, so the primary benefit of signing up that way will be watching through the Amazon Prime apps and services, so Amazon fans won’t need to install Apple’s TV app on their Fire sticks.
There will also be unified billing. This is something that Apple never quite managed to nail down with its own Apple TV Channels, where subscriptions are still treated like all other in-app purchases: they’re billed by Apple, but they’re billed separately.
While the move may seem like a bit of a white flag on Apple’s part, the goal is ultimately to extend the reach of Apple TV+. Apple’s TV app has long been available on nearly every popular smart TV, streaming box, and game console out there, but that still gave Apple control over the experience. This move marks the first time it will be possible to legitimately watch Apple TV+ shows through someone else’s streaming platform.
We want to make Apple TV+ and its award-winning library of series and films from the world’s greatest storytellers available to as many viewers as possible. We’re thrilled that Prime Video will now offer Apple TV+, giving viewers an incredible breadth of viewing options.Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Services
An add-on subscription to Apple TV+ through Amazon Prime will provide subscribers with access to everything available on the service through Apple’s own TV app, including Friday Night Baseball and select matches from its MLS Season Pass. However, soccer fans will still need to use Apple’s app to access their full season pass subscription.
While adding Apple TV+ to Amazon Prime doesn’t technically extend Apple’s streaming service to any new living room hardware — Apple’s TV app is available on all the same platforms as Prime Video — it will likely bring in more subscribers by removing some of the friction in downloading a separate app. Many Amazon Fire TV users aren’t even aware that Apple TV+ is readily available on their devices, so seeing it in the same Prime Video app where they enjoy the rest of their content could encourage more folks to sign up.
However, one upside for mobile viewers is that the Amazon Prime app and its add-on subscriptions are available on Android, where Apple’s TV app remains unavailable. This means the new partnership gives Android phone and tablet users a more seamless way to access Apple TV+.
