Lovefilm Instant streaming becomes Amazon Prime Instant Video

The Lovefilm Instant streaming service officially becomes Amazon Prime Instant Video today, as the company ups their fight against an increasingly dominant Netflix.

As revealed earlier this month Amazon has incorporated the on-demand video service it already owned with its annual, next-day delivery subscription service, all for a grand total of £79 a year.

Current Amazon Prime subscribers will be able to use the new Instant Video service, without upgrading, but will need to pay the full price next time their Prime membership is up for renewal.

This all sounds like a good deal, however not for those Prime users who do not want to use the Lovefilm service, they will still have to pay the £79 for the Amazon Prime package which means they face a massive 60% price increase.

The Amazon PR team have replied to questions raised about this by stating that many customers are currently both Prime and Lovefilm Instant members so by integrating the two, it is offering them great value. But Amazon do not disclose exactly how many customers are members of both, which raises doubts that there really isn`t that many.

Some Prime users may not mind paying an extra £30 for a choice of 15 000 movies and tv programmes, but others may begrudge this when they could pay a mere £5.99 for a similar instant video streaming service from Lovefilm`s main competitor Netflix. This could potentially be a risky move taken by Amazon and could result in consumers failing to renew their Prime membership and discourage new users from signing up.

I personally think this price rise is too steep for the benefits that you are gaining. Some consumers will just want the simple Prime service they had before and I think this should still be an option. What do you think? Will you be renewing your Prime membership? Let us know your thoughts on this.