Amazon Channels reportedly primed for French launch

Amazon is mulling a launch of its à la carte pay TV offering Amazon Channels in France, according to local reports.

According to BFMTV, citing unnamed sources, Amazon has contacted a number of French channels with a view to building a bouquet for the French market and has recruited an executive based in Paris to take charge of the project.

Amazon launched its streaming on-demand service in France a year ago. The Amazon Channels offering is already available in Europe in the UK and Germany, available to Amazon Prime members only for an additional fee.

Financial daily Les Echos said that channels contacted by it had confirmed Amazon had been in touch, but indicated that the project was at a very early stage.

Amazon Channels is increasingly emerging as a potential competitor to mainstream pay TV services.

Discovery joined the Amazon Channels offering in Germany and Austria in October, having earlier brought its Eurosport Player streaming service to the platform, a move that brought live premium sports including exclusive Bundesliga football games to the OTT TV offering.

Discovery recently launched a motor-racing-themed SVOD service on Amazon Channels in Germany, while A+E Networks launched a new true crime-related on-demand service, Kriminal, on the Amazon Channels offering in the UK.