For Brits, Lovefilm Instant Is About To Morph Into Prime Instant Video
Amazon has announced that it's making a few changes to its Prime membership over in Britain. From Feb. 26, Lovefilm Instant – the Amazon-owned video streaming service – will become Prime Instant Video, and it'll be thrown in for free with Prime subscriptions. The good news ends there, however, because Prime itself is also getting a price hike.
In Britain, Amazon Prime costs £49 per year, and Lovefilm Instant previously costed as little as £72 for an annual subscription. From next week, though, British customers of the online retail giant are going to be charged £79 annually for a refreshed Prime offering.
This will include the usual free one-day delivery for select Amazon orders, but will also feature access to Amazon's online library of more than 15,000 movies and TV shows, all of which can be streamed to a computer or mobile device. Plus, subscribers can still borrow e-books from Amazon using the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.
If you're already a Prime subscriber, you'll be able to access Prime Instant Video at no extra cost until your subscription is up for renewal. Then, Amazon is going to expect a £79 fee rather than its usual £49.
But is it a good deal for customers?
This of course depends on the individual. If you used Prime for its one-day delivery only and don't care about accessing Prime Instant Video, the £79 increase in price is going to be a bitter pill to swallow.
If you're a Netflix subscriber with a Prime account, however – or if you subscribe to Lovefilm – this could work out for you. Prime Instant Video's main rival, Netflix, charges £5.99 per month in Britain, and though this provides access to the service's original programming and unique catalog, its total annual fee of almost £72 isn't much less than the cost of Amazon's revamped, all-in-one Prime service.
Better yet, the online retailer is also planning on offering Prime for just £49 as part of a special introductory offer.
As mentioned, Amazon's refreshed Prime service is set to launch in Britain on Feb. 26. What are your thoughts on the change?
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