Fox strikes licensing deal with Amazon to stream movies, TV shows

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News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox has reached a licensing deal that adds about 2,000 films and television shows from its library to Amazon.com’s instant streaming service, bringing to 11,000 the number of titles available through Amazon Prime.

Amazon Prime members, who pay a $79 annual fee, gain commercial-free access to such films as ‘Mrs. Doubtfire,’ ‘9 to 5’ and ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,’ as well as older television series including ‘24,’ ‘The X-Files’ and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’

Consumers who are not Amazon Prime members can rent or purchase movies and TV shows from Amazon through its Instant Video stream service, at prices that start at $3.99 for new releases. Amazon offers more than 100,000 new and older titles through its paid service.

The online retailer is beefing up its catalog as it seeks to compete with Netflix, which just secured the rights to stream DreamWorks Animation films. Amazon has secured licensing deals with CBS, NBCUniversal, Sony and Warner Bros.

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-- Dawn C. Chmielewski