Amazon originals such as “The Rings of Power”, “Mrs. Maisel” or “The Boys” could soon be shown free of charge on free TV on RTL or ProSieben instead of exclusively on Prime Video.
- Amazon wants to distribute parts of its film and series originals and the MGM film catalogue.
- The rental company Amazon MGM Studios Distribution was set up specifically for this purpose.
- Titles previously available exclusively from Prime Video could also end up on German free TV.
If you want to see Amazon Originals like “The Rings of Power”, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” or “The Boys”, you can’t avoid a Prime subscription. However, that could change soon – because Amazon no longer wants to hide its own productions exclusively behind Prime Video’s paywall in the future.
The titles from the acquired MGM Studios will also be distributed, including “James Bond” films and the “Rocky” saga with Sylvester Stallone. The newly founded company Amazon MGM Studios Distribution will be responsible for selling the licenses to TV providers. And it is quite possible that providers of free TV in Germany, such as the RTL Group or ProSiebenSat.1, will knock on the door for the corresponding broadcasting rights.
This means for you: You may soon be able to switch on previously exclusive streaming series on free TV in the evening. Free of charge, but with the usual advertising blocks. The fresh cell cure would certainly be good for German television, but it remains questionable whether the prices called for by Amazon will be realistic. Perhaps at this point pay-TV providers like Sky will win the race.
However, it is not yet clear whether Amazon intends to sell all of its original productions, especially the controversial highlight “The Rings of Power”, to third parties. The US industry magazine Variety but already lists some popular formats, including The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, as fixed rental titles.
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