Skip to main content

Amazon looks to take on Netflix by offering Prime Video worldwide

amazon prime video global expansion the grand tour
Amazon / The Grand Tour
Amazon’s The Grand Tour is a major hit — so much so that it’s also become one of the most widely pirated shows on the internet. Part of this could have had to do with the fact that it’s only available via Amazon Prime Video, which wasn’t available in many countries. That is no longer the case, however, as on Wednesday Amazon announced that Prime Video is now available in more than 200 countries.

“We are excited to announce that starting today, fans around the world have access to Prime Video,” Amazon Digital Video International vice president Tim Leslie said in a statement. “The Grand Tour and other critically acclaimed Amazon Original Series like Transparent, Mozart in the Jungle, and The Man in the High Castle, along with hundreds of popular Hollywood movies and TV shows, are now available at the introductory price of only $2.99 a month. And what’s really exciting is that we are just getting started.”

Recommended Videos

Customers in countries where Prime Video is new but Amazon Prime has already been available — such as Belgium, Canada, France, India, Italy, and Spain — can start watching immediately at no extra cost to their Prime membership. Customers in other countries will need to sign up for a stand-alone Prime Video membership, first introduced by the company earlier this year. These customers will be able to take advantage of an introductory price of $3 or 3 euros for the first six months.

While this may help curb piracy of the service’s most popular show, but that’s not all. The new availability also puts the service on more equal footing with Netflix, which became available around the world at the start of the year.

In addition to the introductory pricing, customers will be able to try out the service with a seven-day free trial by visiting the Prime Video website.

Kris Wouk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
Prime Day spending just hit a new record
Best Prime Day Deals

Online shoppers splashed the cash and spent a record amount during Amazon’s latest Prime Day event, which spanned July 16 and 17.

Anyone perusing the pages of Digital Trends this week will have been well aware of deals galore, with some pretty remarkable discounts offered on a range of tech gadgets and other items.

Read more
Apple TV’s InSight feature is ready to take on Amazon Prime Video’s X-Ray
Apple TV's Insight feature showing character and music information on screen.

We have a new developer beta for tvOS 18 — the software that runs on Apple TV devices — and with it comes our first look at a major new feature. InSight is Apple's answer to Amazon Prime Video's X-Ray, which provides quick and easy access to who's in a scene, and what music may be accompanying it.

Aside from some basic user interface differences like fonts and design elements — InSight definitively looks and feels like Apple, and X-Ray retains Prime Video's less-sleek motif — they basically work the same. While a movie or show is playing, you can pause or press down (the latter takes you straight to the info) to see thumbnails of the actors on-screen, including their real name (or stage name, we suppose), and the character's name. Click through one of the thumbnails and you'll get more information about the actor, and easy links to other films and shows they appear in, as well as roles they have served in some other capacity. Ted Lasso's Brett Goldstein, for example, has movie and series thumbnails, and he also has tiles for producing and writing.

Read more
The 10-second rule: How Amazon Prime Video tries to keep live sports as live as possible
Amazon VP of Technology BA Winston.

Stage 15 at Amazon MGM Studios in Culver City, California. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

Live sports are more important than ever. And not just for the usual suspects like ESPN and the legacy networks. The inclusion of streaming services has led to increased fragmentation for some leagues, more headaches for those just trying to watch a game -- and even higher stakes for the companies that have every eyeball on them once the proverbial (and literal) clock starts ticking.

Read more