In an effort to compete against increasing digital service content providers, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) acquired the online comedy channel, Rooftop Media, for an undisclosed amount. Rich digital content portfolio is likely to help the company compete against Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) and other rising digital content channels.
Rooftop Media is engaged in recording live performances of comedians throughout the country and offer licenses for its content through live and on-demand services. The newly acquired company would work under Audible, the audiobook service of Amazon acquired in 2008 for $300 million.
Donald Katz, CEO and founder of Audible, said that the company was impressed with the quality of content offered by Rooftop along with its pool of comedy artists. Until now, Rooftop distributed its content through different partners including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), and Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P).
According to Will Rogers, CEO of Rooftop, this merger would help the channel grow its audience and work with rapidly growing audiobook service, Audible.
This acquisition is a sign of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s growing efforts to become a digital content powerhouse. As of now, the online retailer offers digital content to its Amazon Prime members, who are charged $99 per year for premium shipping service, without any addition cost. As per expectations, the online retailer is likely to increase its digital content footprint at an elevated pace in the upcoming months.
Not only digital content but also the company has launched all-new series of tablets, set-top boxes, and Smartphone to offer its digital content. Its latest offering, Fire TV Stick, makes the overall picture much clearer and it will be available for $39. In addition to Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s videos, this stick would broadcast videos from its primary rivals including Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), Hulu, Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P), NBA Game Time, Spotify, and instant access to a large number of TV shows.
This article has been written by Prakash Pandey.
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