Amazon Prime TV series pricing 8 December 2017 at 7:12PM in TV MoneySaving 17 replies 2.8K views

dunroving

I bought AP a couple of months ago and so far am pretty pleased with it. Besides the free 1-day delivery, for a bit more than a fiver a month I get a lot of music content and video content.

I posted previously about the relatively poor movie choice and realise it is what it is.

Re: TV series, I really got into Ray Donovan, which was free to view. 12 episodes per series, I watched one or two episodes per night, and worked my way through Series 1, Series 2, then Series 3 and was looking forward to also watching Series 4. However ... it's not free! £2.49 per episode!

Those of you who have had AP for a while, how does this work? Will Series 4 become free after a while (is there some sort of embargo period)? I see the whole series is on sale on DVD for £9 and am almost tempted, but if it will eventually be free, I'll be cheap and wait!

Maybe this is how AP generates more income, in the hope that people will be too impatient to wait.

Neil_Jones

You're probably thinking of Amazon Instant Video which is not the same thing as Prime. Prime only gives you access to certain stuff and Instant Video is an entirely different thing though confusingly is promoted under Prime.

An older Reddit post suggests what usually happens is the previous season becomes available when the next one starts to "appear", so when Season 5 appears then in theory Season 4 should unlock. Its documented in other Amazon reviews for the Season 4 DVD that its not included in your Prime membership.

[Deleted User]

Neil_Jones wrote: »

You're probably thinking of Amazon Instant Video which is not the same thing as Prime. Prime only gives you access to certain stuff and Instant Video is an entirely different thing though confusingly is promoted under Prime.

An older Reddit post suggests what usually happens is the previous season becomes available when the next one starts to "appear", so when Season 5 appears then in theory Season 4 should unlock. Its documented in other Amazon reviews for the Season 4 DVD that its not included in your Prime membership.

So there’s more content on amazon video than AP?

[Deleted User]

Deleted_User wrote: »

So there’s more content on amazon video than AP?

Yes, there is plenty of Pay Per View content which is not included free with Amazon Prime. See the earlier post by "Neil Jones".

Ray Donovan is always likely to lag behind because Sky has it as an exclusive on their Sky Atlantic Channel.

dunroving

Ah, OK, thanks for the clarification. It is a bit confusing. I also noted there were some movies that were free "for a limited time", which also seemed strange.

I can wait, if Ray Donovan will eventually be free. Plenty of other series to watch.

The pricing doesn't seem to make any sense - the whole series is £9 on DVD, for 12 episodes. But to watch the series on the Stick and pay per episode, it would cost about £20.

I can't get my head around all the different content platforms these days, and the different devices needed to watch them. I wish there was just a single platform, with reasonable pay-per-view prices.

[Deleted User]

dunroving wrote: »

The pricing doesn't seem to make any sense - the whole series is £9 on DVD, for 12 episodes. But to watch the series on the Stick and pay per episode, it would cost about £20.

It's because Sky have had the exclusive first-run broadcast rights since the series started. This means that Amazon (and Netflix) can only offer the later series as Pay Per View and the latest series not at all for some considerable time.

The cost of the DVD is not affected and is irrelevant, since that will not be part of any broadcast rights deal.

Amazon (and Netflix) have their own exclusives too. Again, these are only shown on other platforms after a long delay.

dunroving wrote: »

I can wait, if Ray Donovan will eventually be free.

There are no guarantees of this, of course.

dunroving

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

It's because Sky have had the exclusive first-run broadcast rights since the series started. This means that Amazon (and Netflix) can only offer the later series as Pay Per View and the latest series not at all for some considerable time.

The cost of the DVD is not affected and is irrelevant, since that will not be part of any broadcast rights deal.

Amazon (and Netflix) have their own exclusives too. Again, these are only shown on other platforms after a long delay.

There are no guarantees of this, of course.

Thanks for the clear explanation. I suppose it could be worse and I could have three channels to choose from and a little black and white box in the corner.

Bigphil1474

OP, I usually just add the series that are pay per view on to my watch list - they pretty much all end up being free (as others have said, usually when new series come out). Amazon do have a weird pricing model IMO, but as you say, there's plenty to watch. I prefer Netflix model - everything they have in their catalogue is available with your subscription, same as Now TV. Suppose it is swings and roundabouts - if Amazon didn't have it on PPV then it might not be available at all. I usually do a few months with each of Netflix, Amazon, and Now TV depending on the offers. At least with Amazon you get the shopping bonuses as well as the TV, and it is cheaper than Netflix. Now TV is worth looking at - much better retention deals when you go to cancel. Can't remember the last time I paid full price for any of their packages.

House_Martin

I am only interested in one program on Amazon Prime, the Grand Tour now in series 2. The rest is of no interest at all
A friend said he will take up the 30 day free trial offer to watch them all in that time then cancel.
Is that an option ? Are you locked into any contract after the 30 days ? seems too good to be true

RichardD1970

House_Martin wrote: »

I am only interested in one program on Amazon Prime, the Grand Tour now in series 2. The rest is of no interest at all
A friend said he will take up the 30 day free trial offer to watch them all in that time then cancel.
Is that an option ? Are you locked into any contract after the 30 days ? seems too good to be true

Oh the irony :rotfl:

Looking for a loop hole to watch stuff that you haven't helped to pay for. :T

[Deleted User]

House_Martin wrote: »

Are you locked into any contract after the 30 days ? seems too good to be true

No, as it says on the Amazon site, you can cancel at any time without penalty. It's free for 30 days.