Who’s up for some clones?
Amazon announced today that it has landed an exclusive license to stream “Orphan Black,” a new hit drama from BBC America that features Tatiana Maslany playing several clones of herself. The show will be available on Amazon Prime Instant Video for free streaming starting today, and future seasons will also be available exclusively through Prime.
When it launched last year, Orphan Black captured the attention of critics, thanks in part to the strength of Maslany’s performance. There are a number of scenes in the sci-fi thriller when she is acting opposite herself. That feat earned the show a loyal following, which Amazon is hoping will drive interest in its service.
It’s a coup for Amazon, which is looking for more and more exclusive content as it continues to compete with Netflix for the streaming video market. The deal is one in a long line of exclusive content agreements Amazon has been working to rack up, including “Extant,” a new summer show on CBS starring Halle Berry, and “Teen Wolf,” a TV re-imagining of the 1985 film starring Michael J. Fox. The deal is also an important move for BBC America, which doesn’t often have original programming of its own.
The second season of the show will start running in April on BBC America, and this streaming deal has the potential to be a win-win for both parties. Amazon is in a position to capitalize on people interested in getting caught up in time for season 2, while BBC America can share try to drive greater interest in the second season by making it available to Amazon’s audience.
As the Seattle-based retailer looks to increase the price of Amazon Prime by $20-$40 from its current $79 price point, the more the company can bolster the additional services included in its premium shipping service, the better. A recent survey showed that many users wouldn’t be willing to keep up their Prime subscriptions if the price goes up, though they might be more willing to keep paying if they felt they were getting better value for their dollar.
