Amazon.com Inc is planning a subscription service to rival Netflix Inc and has approached media companies.
A source confirmed the company wants to provide users with unlimited access to some television shows and movies over the Internet.
There is already a video-on-demand section on Amazon’s website which features numerous TV shows and movies which are available individually from $1.99.
However, a subscription service would likely be similar to Netflix’s online streaming service which works alongside its DVD rental business.
Similar to what Netflix provide, most of the available television programming and and movies for streaming would be older because media companies are wary of devaluing their content.
News of the Amazon proposal was first reported by the Wall Street Journal which said General Electric Co’s NBC Universal was also approached.
According to The Journal, at least one version of Amazon’s proposal suggested subscriptions could be bundled with its existing Amazon Prime service with immediate effect, providing a large number of built-in subscribers to the service.
Prime is a service that offers members free two-day shipping on most Amazon purchases for $79 per year.
This proposal comes at a time when more companies look to boos their online television businesses.
Hollywood studios and media companies want to benefit from the higher margins they make on digital sales and also help to combat online piracy.
Apple Inc is expected to unveil it’s latest version of Apple TV on Wednesday which is expected to offer television shows at 99 cents each while Google Inc would also like to offer a subscription-based service for its YouTube website.
