Prime Instant Video to be the Exclusive Subscription Streaming Home for Carnival/Masterpiece Co-Production "Downton Abbey" on PBS

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

AMZN—Amazon.com, Inc. today announced a content licensing agreement with PBS Distribution that will make Prime Instant Video the exclusive subscription home for streaming the Carnival/MASTERPIECE co-production “Downton Abbey.” Seasons 1 and 2 of the award-winning series are currently available on Prime Instant Video, and are the most watched TV seasons of all time on the service. Beginning June 18, 2013, Prime Instant Video will be the exclusive subscription service for streaming the all-new Season 3 of “Downton Abbey”, and later this year, no digital subscription service other than Prime Instant Video will offer any seasons of “Downton Abbey.” Prime Instant Video will continue to be the exclusive subscription home through Season 4 and, if produced, Season 5 of “Downton Abbey.”

“Our Prime customers have spoken—they can't get enough of the MASTERPIECE CLASSIC series ‘Downton Abbey.' The series is consistently in our top most watched TV shows each week, making it the most popular TV series with Prime Instant Video customers, ever,” said Brad Beale, Director of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon. “Prime Instant Video will soon be the exclusive subscription video streaming home for ‘Downton Abbey.'”

For fans who want to own the original UK version now, all three seasons of Downton Abbey are available for purchase on DVD and Blu-Ray on Amazon.com, and digitally through Amazon Instant Video.

“Downton Abbey” is a Carnival/MASTERPIECE Co-Production and airs on PBS stations nationwide. Produced by WGBH Boston, MASTERPIECE is the longest-running and one of the most popular primetime drama series on television. Since the premiere of “Downton Abbey, Season 1” on January 9, 2011, the critically acclaimed series has gained popularity across a diverse audience and has been honored with nine Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Dame Maggie Smith). It has also garnered a Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries and a Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television (Dame Maggie Smith), a Screen Actor's Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, a PGA (Producers' Guild of America) Award and a TCA (Television Critics Association) Award.

Prime Instant Video offers more than 36,000 movies and TV episodes including fan-favorite shows such as “Downton Abbey,” “Fringe,” and “The West Wing” and blockbuster movies including “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol,” “Rango” and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” for Amazon Prime members to stream, commercial free at no additional cost on Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Roku, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Wii U, among other devices. To sign up for Amazon Prime, visit www.amazon.com/primeinstantvideo.

About Amazon Instant Video

Amazon Instant Video is a digital video streaming and download service that offers Amazon customers the ability to rent, purchase or subscribe to a huge catalog of videos. Customers can choose from more than 150,000 titles to purchase or rent and content ranges from new release movies to classic favorites, major television shows, entire seasons, or even day after air TV. Prime Instant Video is Amazon's video subscription offer—it includes more than 36,000 movies and TV episodes selected from the full assortment available at Amazon Instant Video. This subscription offer allows US Prime customers to stream as many titles from Prime Instant Video as they like, at no additional cost.

About Prime

Amazon Prime is an annual membership program for $79 a year that offers customers unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items including books, home and garden products, electronics, video games, clothing, and much more. Amazon Prime members also get access to unlimited instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV episodes and access to hundreds of thousands of books to borrow for free, as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates from a Kindle device. Customers who receive free Prime shipping benefits through our Amazon Student or Amazon Mom programs can upgrade to an annual paid membership to receive Amazon Prime's digital benefits.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon's developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the most-advanced e-reader ever constructed with 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast, a patented built-in front light for reading in all lighting conditions, extra-long battery life, and a thin and light design. The new latest generation Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, now features new, improved fonts and faster page turns. Kindle Fire HD features a stunning custom high-definition display, exclusive Dolby audio with dual stereo speakers, high-end, laptop-grade Wi-Fi with dual-band support, dual-antennas and MIMO for faster streaming and downloads, enough storage for HD content, and the latest generation processor and graphics engine—and it is available in two display sizes—7” and 8.9”. The large-screen Kindle Fire HD is also available with 4G wireless, and comes with a groundbreaking $49.99 introductory 4G LTE data package. The all-new Kindle Fire features a 20% faster processor, 40% faster performance, twice the memory, and longer battery life.

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Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment and data center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.