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Amazon (AMZN) to Boost India Reach Via Live Cricket Streaming

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In a bid to gain momentum across cricket lovers in India, Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) is set to debut in the live cricket streaming service with its video streaming platform, Amazon Prime Video.

The company signed a multi-year agreement in November 2020 with a major cricket board and obtained the rights for streaming live cricket.

As part of this deal, Prime Video customers will be able to watch live international cricket matches to be held in New Zealand from Jan 1, 2022. In addition, viewers can get access to match highlights.

We believe that the recent move will help Amazon in expanding the Prime subscriber base in the country. This is likely to contribute to revenues in the upcoming period.

Growing Initiatives to Drive Market Prospects

Amazon has been consistently making strong initiatives to attract customers in India.

The multi-year deal with the cricket board remains a positive for the company as it is the first video streaming platform in India to do so.

In addition, Amazon recently introduced the Prime Video Channels Bundling Service on Prime Video to offer access to the contents from eight global and local streaming services.

Further, it launched a free video streaming service called MiniTV on its shopping app to gain more viewers in the country.

With these increasing efforts, Amazon has positioned itself well to capitalize on the prospects of the video streaming market in India.

Per a report by Media Partners Asia, the total online video market of the country is expected to hit $4.5 billion by 2025, witnessing a CAGR of 26% from 2020 to 2025.

Additionally, revenues generated in the video streaming segment in India are expected to progress at a CAGR of 20.27% between 2021 and 2025, thereby resulting in a forecast market volume of $2.56 billion by 2025, according to a report by statista.

Competitive Scenario Challenges Amazon

Given this upbeat scenario in the Indian online video streaming market, Amazon — currently carrying a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) — is facing stiff competition from companies like Sony (SONY - Free Report) , Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) and Disney (DIS - Free Report) , to name a few.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Sony’s subsidiary SonyLIV is a leading video platform in the country that provides live streaming and updates of sports matches including cricket, football, tennis, WWE, and others. In addition to sports, users can also access popular television shows, movies and web series on the video platform.

Meanwhile, Disney+ Hotstar is a premium streaming platform in India offering local and global entertainment content. It also shows live cricket matches along with highlights and updates.

Further, Netflix offers a wide variety of award-winning TV shows, movies, anime and documentaries from all across the world. Though the company hasn’t stepped into streaming live sports events yet, it remains a major platform in the country to produce on-demand video content.

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