Amazon Spends $220 Million to Get Exclusive Streaming Rights to Kids Shows for Prime Subscribers on Kindle Fire and Other Devices

In an open letter posted on its website, Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos announced that Amazon has just closed a deal with Viacom, giving it the right to broadcast hundreds of kids TV shows on Prime Instant Video.

In addition, the company has gained exclusive rights to stream many of these TV shows on its Instant Video network.

Bezos went on to boast that members of Amazon Prime now have unlimited instant streaming access to the largest subscription library for Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. content online.

Included in the list are over 3,000 episodes from  top-rating children’s programs such as Spongebob Squarepants, Blues Clues, and Dora the Explorer. There are also new shows like Drake & Josh, Big Time Rush, and Bubble Guppies.

Many of these shows had formerly been available on Netflix until the latter allowed its rights to broadcast the Viacom shows expire in May this year. Amazon.com then snapped up the opportunity to bring these programs to its Amazon Prime members.

According a Reuters report, this deal cost Amazon.com $220m, making it the biggest deal that Amazon has ever closed for streaming videos. The same report also states that this deal provides Amazon a greater number of shows than what Netflix had previously gotten from Viacom.

The deal is said to cover a time period of over two years. 

Many of the shows are also available on Kindle Free Time, an Amazon.com service that specifically targets kid viewers.