Report: Amazon considering free streaming service
By Brian Stelter, CNN Senior Media Correspondent
Amazon might be taking a page from television broadcasters as it expands its streaming TV service and commissions more original shows.
Emphasis on the word "might."
The company is planning a free streaming service that could complement the $99-a-year Amazon Prime product that it already has, according to The Wall Street Journal.
A few hours after the report surfaced, though, Amazon seemed to dispute it, telling reporters that "we have no plans to offer a free streaming media service."
The back-and-forth stoked yet more curiosity about Amazon's multimedia plans.
Read more of Brian's article online here.
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About the host
Brian Stelter is the host of "Reliable Sources" and the senior media correspondent for CNN Worldwide. Before he joined CNN in November 2013, Stelter was a media reporter for The New York Times. He is the author of the New York Times best-seller "Top of the Morning."
Here's his biography. You can read his stories on this blog and at CNNMoney.com/Media/.
@cnnreliable on Twitter
Brian, first I want to congratulate you on Reliable Sources. I watched it before with Howard (Kurtz) for years. It serves an extremely important function– watching the watch dog. Having been a reporter for many years, I am particularly interested. Anyway, on the Amazon story, I follow all their products and services. It's one of the great successes of the so-called "dot com" boom of the late 1990s and I had the good fortune to recognize it early. $AMZN has been very good to me - until recently. Criticism of the new Fire TV has drastically affected their stock. I'm not sure why people are so quick to criticize it. Streaming is another interest of mine. Since the advent of the HDMI/flat screen TV, I've tried several solutions for combining cable TV and streaming. So far Vizio's Co-star had been the most "elegant" but it appears that Amazon's Fire might be an improvement. I haven't bought it yet, but I'm eye-ing it 😉
Finally, regarding the tweets about morning news shows, I did mean what I said about too much schmaltz. I really don't want to hear about the so-called "celebrity anchors" lives on those shows. They are not movie stars, but Matt and Robin seem to think they are. More accurately their networks perpetuate the myth. So, when CNN chimes in, as though they are, it just furthers the non-sense that has become morning TV. That's why I love the CBS alternative with Charlie Rose. Even he is getting into the personal banter with his co-anchor Nora O'Donnell, but so far it's fun and hasn't crossed the "We're Big Stars" line. Charlie is very modest and resists all that hype. Gayle King, eh... even so, I'm warming up to her. It's by far the best week day morning show. Obviously, on the weekend, I'm with CNN (and most evenings, too.)