By Travis Johnson
A number of sites – including us! – reported on Friday that online retail behemoth, Amazon, had launched their Amazon Prime streaming service in Australia. This is apparently not the case, as we were informed in a brief missive from an anonymous Amazon spokesperson, sent our way via a PR intermediary.
We have not launched Amazon Prime in Australia. The service some Australians have signed-up for is the US or UK Prime Membership, which provides free, fast shipping within the US or UK, as well as access to some Amazon Originals, such as The Grand Tour, where we have the global rights.
So, yes to The Man in the High Castle and The Tick, among others, but no to most everything else. This raises more questions than it answers. When is a launch not a launch? When there’s no PR release, apparently. But why not publicise the fact that Australians can access The Grand Tour – the obvious driving force behind this decision – without resorting to piracy or VPNs? (A VPN, by the way, will get you access to Amazon’s full catalogue of streaming video and music with a Prime membership, if one were so inclined.)
We’ve reached out to Amazon for further clarification and comment – more news if and when it arrives.
