Amazon Inks Deal With MGM for TV Shows, Movies
Online retailer Amazon.com said Wednesday it entered a licensing agreement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios to add more than 18,000 movies and television episodes through 2012 to its Prime Instant Video segment.
MGM brings movies such as "The Terminator," "Rain Man" and "The Silence of the Lambs" to Amazon's online streaming platform, which is free for its Prime users, who pay a membership fee.
Amazon in July reached a deal with NBCUniversal Domestic TV that added more than 9,000 movies and TV shows and also with CBS, allowing users to stream an additional 2,000 episodes of the television network's shows.
The company aims to become a more meaningful video-streaming rival to Netflix, which began as a DVD-by-mail company but has expanded its online offerings.
Amazon's bottom line sagged during the past year as the company continued to invest heavily in projects aimed at making its name more ubiquitous in areas ranging from online TV to the industrial-supply business.
Amazon reported in April that its first-quarter profit fell 35 percent as the online retailer's heavy spending continued to weigh on the bottom line.
Shares slipped 0.5 percent to $215.29 in recent trading. The stock is up 24 percent so far this year.
