Amazon has launched an ad-supported, free video streaming service called MiniTV within the Amazon India app, TechCrunch reports. It’s a different offering than its separate Amazon Prime Video service, as MiniTV is contained within Amazon’s traditional shopping app, rather than its own standalone app.
Only available to users in India, MiniTV’s catalog includes mostly older content which its content partners made originally for YouTube and other platforms. The lineup includes beauty and fashion content, tech news, and cooking shows, and Amazon’s partners for the channel include Indian web content studios Pocket Aces and TVF, and list of well-known Indian comedians.
The company says it’s planning “new and exclusive videos” in the coming months, but didn’t provide a timetable.
As TechCrunch notes, the channel should serve as a competitor to Flipkart Video, the free streaming service launched in 2019 by Walmart-owned Flipkart, one of Amazon’s biggest rivals in India.
Amazon is still marketing its Prime Video to consumers in India as it competes with Netflix, which has plans to launch more than three dozen new movies and shows in India this year. The free MiniTV will help Amazon test whether streaming content can drive sales on its shopping app.
