Newsletter 
Cord-cutting recently became a popular trend in the United States, which is why more and more Internet companies are looking to enter this emerging market and offer their own TV streaming service in an attempt to compete with traditional cable companies. At the moment, consumers in the US have three major TV streaming services to choose from: Sony’s PlayStation Vue, Dish’s Sling TV, and AT&T’s DIRECTV NOW which the second largest wireless carrier in the country debuted a few weeks ago. However, this market segment is bound to get much more competitive next year, and if latest reports are to be believed, Amazon is getting ready to launch its own live TV package in 2017.
John Martin, the Chief Executive Officer at Turner recently made comments which heavily implied that Amazon is preparing to debut a television streaming service. While speaking at the latest Recode conference, the CEO of the Time Warner-owned media conglomerate explained how Internet companies are showing increased interest in this industry. Furthermore, Martin added how Amazon has been among a handful of firms with whom Turner was negotiating over a potential TV package. Now, his comments seemingly corroborate reports that Amazon is currently in the process of acquiring TV rights for its upcoming service. Back in November, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Seattle-based tech giant is interested in sports TV rights, but Martin’s comments imply that the company is also looking to acquire a broad range of other content.
In addition to Amazon, Hulu already confirmed plans to launch a TV streaming service come next year, and YouTube has been heavily rumored to debut a similar solution called Unplugged. If you add Amazon into that equation, it seems likely that the live TV market is about to get much more competitive. Interestingly enough, Martin is looking forward to that influx of competitors. Turner’s CEO explained how an increasingly competitive market will improve the overall customer experience through rapid innovation, adding that such a change will also facilitate the closure of some obsolete cable networks. Of course, Martin firmly believes none of Turner’s networks are among the bad bunch. In any case, the cord-cutting trend is bound to continue in 2017 and Amazon is apparently adamant at being a major player in this emerging market.