Amazon Prime Video could in the future also broadcast live television programs twenty-four hours a day
On Amazon Prime Video could soon arrive live linear programming, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This can be inferred from a series of job ads posted by the company on LinkedIn, with which it looks for professionals specialized in this type of broadcasts.
Until now, Amazon Prime Video has offered its customers mainly video on demand, with sporadic forays into the world of live broadcasts. Now, however, it is trying to set up an entire team dedicated to live programs and this has made many believe that Amazon wants to challenge traditional TV, to take away a good slice of viewers from cable, satellite or digital terrestrial broadcasters. The thing, however, is not so simple (even from the technical point of view) so much so that it is a process that began a few years ago and that is unlikely to be completed within this year.
Amazon Prime Video live: ads on LinkedIn
From the ads on LinkedIn we can guess which figures Amazon is looking for and for which tasks. In one of them, Amazon admits that “Although video on demand is growing, globally, live broadcast and TV viewing time is higher.” In another announcement Amazon also explains what content its live TV should offer: “Linear TV allows customers to watch 24/7 streaming streams of their favorite TV stations, including sports, news, movies, premium shows, special events and Tv shows.”
Amazon Prime live: when it will arrive
The most likely thing, at the moment, is that Amazon Prime Video won’t change its face overnight, becoming a live online TV. Rather, Amazon will offer a mixed package made up of both linear programming and on-demand content. Already in October 2019 Amazon Prime Video started broadcasting some Cheddar and ABC news programs live through Fire Tv devices.
The relative slowness with which Amazon has moved so far has also been due to technical issues: in order to offer a 24/7 schedule to users, in fact, you need not only agreements with those who produce content (which Amazon does not lack), powerful and reliable servers are not enough (which Amazon does not lack), you also need a fast and stable mobile connection (which many users lack, instead). It’s clear, then, that Amazon will start getting serious about live TV as soon as 5G connections are widespread enough, at least in the United States.