Amazon Joins the Video Streaming Service Arena

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal this weekend, Amazon will become a direct competitor to video streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.

Amazon Video is one of the benefits that Amazon Prime subscribers already enjoy as part of their annual $99 subscription fee, alongside many other benefits, but this new Amazon Video subscription will finally provide users an option to gain access to just the companies streaming library and original programming on a month by month basis. The subscription fee each month will be $8.99 which is actually $107.88 per year - that is $8.88 more expensive than an inclusive Amazon Prime subscription.

Amazon has also announced that they will once again offer their full Amazon Prime service on a monthly subscription basis for $10.99 a month. They did this one previously when the annual subscription fee was still $79 but it was ultimately canceled . With the new subscription fee at $10.99  month that means it would cost someone $131.88 to subscribe over the course of a year. That would make Prime $32.88 more expensive than the one time flat rate fee of $99 it currently costs per year.

In the long run, if someone wanted the shipping benefit and video together then it is a no-brainer to go with the $99 per year and not only get those two benefits but also Prime Music, Prime Photos, Prime Early Access to Lightning Deals and the Kindle Lending Library.

However, if someone just wanted to have free two day shipping at certain times of the year, such as around the holidays in November and December, then that $22 could quickly pay for itself over the course of those 6-8 weeks of shopping.

Personally, I have been a Prime subscriber for several years and I have used every element of the program except for the Prime Photos storage.

The value at $99 for the free two day shipping alone, which I share with my wife, has proven well worth it. The bonus of Prime Music and Video just sweeten the deal.

Do either of these new subscription offers look like good deals to those of you who might not be current subscribers?

But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.