Moonstruck And More: Amazon Beefs Up Its Prime Instant Video Back Catalog With MGM Deal

Amazon has applied for 76 different names in Icann’s new TLD scheme, with several of them pointing to the company’s ambitions to keep pushing forward on its plans to enhance its video and entertainment services — among the names that point to video, including some for its existing brands, are “.movie”, “.video”, “.box”, “.imdb” and “.prime.” Today Amazon announced some news that also underscores that strategy: it has signed a deal with MGM to add “hundreds” of film and TV classics to its Prime Instant Video service.

The deal is a strong step ahead for the company in enhancing the long-tail back catalog for the service, which has up to now been heavily looking to add newer releases to the selection and will see older titles like The Silence of the Lambs, MoonstruckDances with Wolves, Rain Man and The Terminator, and TV series like Stargate. Prime Instant Video now has a catalog of some 18,000 titles, including both films and TV episodes, available for streaming.

“Our customers tell us they love having tons of movies and TV shows to choose from, which is why we are focused on adding even more titles to our already extensive Prime Instant Video library,” Brad Beale, director of digital video content acquisition for Amazon, said in a statement.

While the deal initially covers “hundreds” of titles, it’s not clear if it will eventually encompass all of MGM’s catalog of 4,100 titles.

Prime Instant Video is Amazon’s video subscription service, in which it offers unlimited downloads for a single fee to compete against Netflix and others offering a similar pricing model, which can be watched online, on the Kindle Fire, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or various other compatible devices. Amazon’s wider video offering, Amazon Instant Video, offers 120,000 titles for purchase or rent. Amazon Prime costs $79 annually.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.