Amazon is all decked out sell you discounted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles boardgames for the holidays with Nickelodeon shops, in the clearest marriage yet of the video and commerce arms of $79-a-year Amazon Prime. November 26, 2013 8:34 AM PST (Credit: Screenshot by Joan E. Solsman/CNET) Is your son or daughter dying to find a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Inflatable Sports Car under the tree? Today, Amazon says it will sell it to you nearly half off. And by the way, did you notice signing up for $79-a-year Prime gets you the blow-up car in two days and Nickelodeon shows streaming for your kids whenever you want? Tuesday, Viacom network Nickelodeon and Amazon.com launched three Nick-themed shops dedicated to Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, all with more than 100 discounted products. Savings go as high as half off, and include products with big price tags -- up to $380. Related Stories From Bordeaux to Warhol: How Amazon goes high-brow The 404 1,391: Where we feel the endowment effect (podcast) Amazon: Who says Black Friday can't start early? Amazon said to be working on new high-res Kindle Paperwhite The Silicon Valley of 'Betas' As part of the holiday sale, shoppers will be able to download one episode of each of the series for free through Saturday. It's the clearest link Amazon has ever made between the e-commerce and instant video elements of its Prime service, a $79-a-year subscription that offers two-day shipping on eligible products and access to Prime Instant Video, its Netflix competitor. Earlier this year, Amazon snapped up Nickelodeon's library of shows in a licensing deal with Viacom after Netflix passed on renewing its own deal with the television company. Netflix at the time was focusing it licensing efforts at more targeted deals that would have it paying only for the content it really wanted, rather than far-reaching deals like that Viacom, which also runs networks like MTV and Comedy Central. Those bundled licenses deals are the reason why Netflix had no-name shows in its streaming library alongside the ones lots of subscribers seek out to watch. Unlike Netflix, though, Amazon doesn't just sell video -- it sells everything, including SpongeBob's Greatest Hits CDs and Bubble Guppies Bath Squirters. It was quick to scoop up the breadth of Viacom's content. Popular kids programming, along with live events like sports, are also the most persuasive reasons people sign up for and keep a video service. Read: The unlikely group putting the kibosh on cable TV: Parents The holiday Nickelodeon shops aren't explicit ads for Prime. But many of the items offered are eligible for Prime's two-day shipping, and the free downloaded episodes will drive home to parents that the Nickelodeon their kids love enough to put on their Christmas list are available online at Amazon rather than Netflix.
Amazon is all decked out sell you discounted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles boardgames for the holidays with Nickelodeon shops, in the clearest marriage yet of the video and commerce arms of $79-a-year Amazon Prime.
(Credit: Screenshot by Joan E. Solsman/CNET)
Is your son or daughter dying to find a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Inflatable Sports Car under the tree? Today, Amazon says it will sell it to you nearly half off. And by the way, did you notice signing up for $79-a-year Prime gets you the blow-up car in two days and Nickelodeon shows streaming for your kids whenever you want?
Tuesday, Viacom network Nickelodeon and Amazon.com launched three Nick-themed shops dedicated to Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, all with more than 100 discounted products. Savings go as high as half off, and include products with big price tags -- up to $380.
Related Stories
- From Bordeaux to Warhol: How Amazon goes high-brow
- The 404 1,391: Where we feel the endowment effect (podcast)
- Amazon: Who says Black Friday can't start early?
- Amazon said to be working on new high-res Kindle Paperwhite
- The Silicon Valley of 'Betas'
As part of the holiday sale, shoppers will be able to download one episode of each of the series for free through Saturday.
It's the clearest link Amazon has ever made between the e-commerce and instant video elements of its Prime service, a $79-a-year subscription that offers two-day shipping on eligible products and access to Prime Instant Video, its Netflix competitor.
Earlier this year, Amazon snapped up Nickelodeon's library of shows in a licensing deal with Viacom after Netflix passed on renewing its own deal with the television company. Netflix at the time was focusing it licensing efforts at more targeted deals that would have it paying only for the content it really wanted, rather than far-reaching deals like that Viacom, which also runs networks like MTV and Comedy Central.
Those bundled licenses deals are the reason why Netflix had no-name shows in its streaming library alongside the ones lots of subscribers seek out to watch.
Unlike Netflix, though, Amazon doesn't just sell video -- it sells everything, including SpongeBob's Greatest Hits CDs and Bubble Guppies Bath Squirters. It was quick to scoop up the breadth of Viacom's content. Popular kids programming, along with live events like sports, are also the most persuasive reasons people sign up for and keep a video service.
Read: The unlikely group putting the kibosh on cable TV: Parents
The holiday Nickelodeon shops aren't explicit ads for Prime. But many of the items offered are eligible for Prime's two-day shipping, and the free downloaded episodes will drive home to parents that the Nickelodeon their kids love enough to put on their Christmas list are available online at Amazon rather than Netflix.
