Amazon's streaming service began in 2006 under the forgotten name Amazon Unbox
Long before Prime Video bought a Hollywood studio, it launched on September 7, 2006, as Amazon Unbox, a US store for video downloads. It went through a string of names, including Amazon Video on Demand, Amazon Instant Video and Amazon Video, before spreading worldwide and paying 8.45 billion dollars for MGM.
The early service sold and rented titles. Unbox became Amazon Video on Demand in September 2008, then Amazon Instant Video in February 2011, when it began offering Prime members free access to 5,000 films and shows. Buying the British streaming and DVD-by-post company LoveFilm in 2011 opened Europe, and Prime Video joined the Prime subscription in the UK, Germany and Austria in 2014. In April 2016 the US version became available on its own for 8.99 dollars a month.
Original programming soon brought prestige. In January 2015 the Amazon Studios comedy Transparent became the first series from a streaming service to win the Golden Globe for Best Television Series in the musical or comedy category. That July, Amazon hired Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May for a motoring show that became The Grand Tour. Jeff Bezos called the deal very expensive but worth it, and former Top Gear producer Andy Wilman put each episode's budget near 4.5 million pounds, nine times that of Top Gear.
Plans to stream that show globally fed speculation about a wider rollout, and on December 14, 2016 Prime Video switched on in more than 200 additional territories, excluding places such as mainland China, North Korea and Iran. Amazon agreed in May 2021 to buy the studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, closing the deal on March 17, 2022, and also struck a multi-year arrangement to stream Universal's films, including the Fast and Furious and Jurassic Park franchises.
In October 2024 Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios together joined the Motion Picture Association, and Amazon Channels lets subscribers add third-party services on top.
Source: Amazon Prime Video
