# Amazon Instant Video losing quality?



## Brian G Turner (Feb 21, 2015)

I knew that it would be hard work for Amazon to make it's instant video service work, and that inevitably, it would start off with a mixed bag of titles. Presumably, they would become increasingly more diverse and a better selection would be offered.

However, many titles I originally put on my watchlist have since become paid-for only. Worst still, there barely appears to be any significant content that has been added to replace it.

The result is that Amazon Instant Video seems to be becoming nothing more than a token service, more interested in pushing paid-for viewing in front of a list of stock titles that you've likely already seen, else wouldn't want to see.

Perhaps Amazon is struggling with studio agreements, hence why it's pushing so hard on its own titles to try and justify an increasingly expensive Amazon Prime membership?

Is this all just in my imagination, though? Any other members with Amazon Instant Video find it's working for them?


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## Glitch (Feb 21, 2015)

I cancelled my prime membership when they merged the delivery and video services.

I found the video offering from Amazon was lacking for the price when, as you say, you have to pay extra for the good stuff anyway.


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## Vladd67 (Feb 21, 2015)

Last night my wife was flicking through trying to find something to watch, she described Amazon Prime as bargain bucket viewing.


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## willwallace (Feb 21, 2015)

I had the same thing happen that Brian described. I put Twin Peaks on my watch list,  as it was free for the entire series. After watching a couple of episodes,  it suddenly said that I had to pay for it.  Went to Netflix where it is free and watch it there now. 
I probably watched most movies on Amazon that are free and that I would want to see in a fairly short time. I find Netflix to be much better overall.


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## Hex (Feb 21, 2015)

I liked Grimm (though I was sad to discover the third series wasn't on prime (yet?)) and I enjoyed Mozart in the Jungle. Pitch Perfect was great! There is some good stuff, if you haven't been to the cinema or watched TV for the last five or six years, but it's probably not much good if you have.


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## Brian G Turner (Feb 21, 2015)

I was under the impression that Amazon Prime and Lovefilm by Post were both integrated into the same service. However, I've just checked my billing and I'll be charged £79 for Amazon prime at the beginning of March - and also £4/month for Lovefilm by Post.

I'm not convinced that running both offers value for me.

I'd be tempted to look at returning to Netflix instead - but the Netflix website simply asks me to sign up, and tells me absolutely nothing about what's available for offer. I don't fancy subscribing to a service that won't even tell me what I'll get, with or without a free trial. It would be good to be able to search through the listings first.


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## Lenny (Feb 21, 2015)

Brian Turner said:


> I'd be tempted to look at returning to Netflix instead - but the Netflix website simply asks me to sign up, and tells me absolutely nothing about what's available for offer. I don't fancy subscribing to a service that won't even tell me what I'll get, with or without a free trial. It would be good to be able to search through the listings first.



Websites like www.moreflicks.com allow you to do a search for films and series, and it will tell you which service it's available on, and, for services like Netflix, which offer different catalogues, in which countries.

Combine that with a VPN, or a browser plugin that acts as a VPN, and your choice increases massively.

I'm not sure if this is available for all countries Netflix is in, but you can browse the UK catalogue here: http://netflix.maft.uk/catalogue (It also has an RSS feed for new arrivals).


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## Dinosaur (Feb 21, 2015)

Personally Prime is worth it just for the delivery, my sense of entitlement makes the next day delivery even when ordered late Saturday seems worth a surprising amount of money.

But the video streaming is a bit of rip off despite series like sons of anarchy being available. A lot of stuff has the first couple of episodes free then suddenly you need to pay for the rest. Or films that are free one day and chargeable the end.


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## Idoru (Feb 22, 2015)

Yeah, I've got Prime primarily for the delivery too. Instant Video is an added extra. 

I've just watched Lost right from the beginning, but I had to up my viewing because it's coming off IV at the end of this month. Apparently Amazon's agreement with ABC demands this, so I suspect that Amazon just hasn't been able to negotiate especially good licences with the studios or isn't interested in paying much for the licences. I understand that Lost will still be available if you pay for it. Unfortunately Netflix doesn't seem to have an awful lot on it that I want to watch.


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## ZombieWife (Feb 25, 2015)

Yeah, it's difficult to navigate Amazon Prime videos in general.  On my BluRay, for example, they don't separate out free streaming from rentals and purchases.  Highly irritating.  But, it's come in super handy when I need to get to a title in a pinch. Generally speaking, when I have an urge to watch a certain movie RIGHT NOW, and, being in a film course where we have to watch DVDs that are a bit difficult to find (and there aren't enough copies in the university library).

The free shipping for me pays for the membership in a few months, so the Prime streaming is just an added bonus.

Still annoying, though, when you have to select one title after another to see if it's free or has a rental/purchase price.


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## Lacedaemonian (Feb 25, 2015)

Regards using a VAN for Netflix - is there a greater catalogue in the US?


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## Lenny (Feb 25, 2015)

Lacedaemonian said:


> Regards using a VAN for Netflix - is there a greater catalogue in the US?



It's larger (I think 20,000 titles compared to just a few thousand in the UK), and has a lot of things the UK doesn't (including some UK programmes, such as *Broadchurch*). Netflix Canada is good, too - I find their SFF selection better than both the US and UK, and they seem to get new films quicker than other territories. I'm also quite fond of Netflix Mexico, and the Scandinavian Netflixes, for similar reasons (and you'll quite often find that they have the English audio for titles alongside the language of that country).


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