Amazon has been in talks to expand its video business through a number of cable acquisitions, with the company negotiating with numerous entities on the matter in recent weeks, industry sources said on Friday. The Seattle, Washington-based firm is supposedly interested in both domestic and foreign acquisitions in a bid to gain a larger foothold in the video streaming market and ultimately diversify its portfolio even further. Amazon reportedly expressed interested in several television channels and even larger players in the industry, and while the company has yet to issue a concrete comment on the matter in an official capacity, its representatives are now hinting that some major announcements related to its video unit are on the horizon in the coming weeks, NBC News reports. Amazon Video VP Greg Hart is supposedly leading the ongoing talks on a global level, insiders claim.
While high-profile acquisitions are not out of the question, Amazon is currently said to be primarily focused on smaller TV channels with limited distribution capabilities which are relatively easy purchase targets due to the current state of the market which inhibits their potential reach. Coupled with the tech giant’s robust distribution network, such channels could deliver their niche programming to a significantly larger audience and not only improve their commercial performance but also ennoble Amazon’s video portfolio in the process of doing so, insiders said. While smaller channels aren’t expected to contribute to Amazon’s revenue in a significant manner in the short term, the e-commerce company may be seeking to create a video business that’s greater than the sum of its parts and ultimately improve its chances of competing against both pay TV and on-demand streaming services for both subscriptions and ad dollars.
Independent channels not directly tied to traditional distribution bundles of pay TV providers are said to be specifically targeted by Amazon as part of its latest expansion efforts, though it’s currently unclear whether the company is planning to instantly bundle them together post-acquisition(s). Despite the constantly increasing number of cord-cutters, the TV advertising industry is still worth $70 billion annually and Amazon is seemingly adamant to take a cut of it in the medium term using a number of means, acquisitions included.