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Amazon Prime Video

Seattle, WA

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Amazon Prime Video launched in 2006 and became one of the earliest major streaming services, bundled as a benefit of Amazon's Prime membership program alongside free shipping, giving it a genuinely different distribution and business model from subscription-only competitors. The platform's acquisition of MGM in 2022, a deal valued at $8.5 billion, brought one of Hollywood's oldest film studios and its extensive library, including the James Bond franchise, under Amazon's ownership, marking one of the largest media acquisitions in streaming history. Amazon's investment in big-budget original series, most notably "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," one of the most expensive television productions ever made, reflected the company's willingness to spend at a scale few competitors could match to build the platform's original content library. Amazon Prime Video's combination of its bundled-with-Prime distribution model and its massive content investments, including the MGM acquisition, has made it one of the most strategically significant streaming services in the industry.

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