Amazon HD - Cut Cable TV Cord and Lose the Blue Ray

Amazon announced today that that its customers can rent box-office favorites and purchase top TV shows in HD from Amazon Video On Demand. Amazon joined YouTube this week in announcing expanded movie and TV content libraries available via broadband.

Customers can select from more than 500 HD TV shows and movies from major studios and networks including Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Showtime Networks. Amazon Video On Demand offers 40,000 titles in total.

Bill Car, Amazon's VP Music and Video confirmed that Amazon's customers are asking for "movies and TV shows they can watch instantly on their television [via their broadband]". With movies and TV episodes in HD, Amazon Video On Demand (VOD) is providing customers with even more choices for entertainment without the need for cable or satellite TV.

To watch Amazon's HD Video on Demand library on your TV, you need a compatible devices (I'll explain these in my next series of posts) including these device manufacturers that have partnered with Amazon on their HD offering:

• Roku Digital Video Player (Roku Amazon Offering)
  

• TiVo Series3 HD, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL DVRs (TiVo Amazon Offering)
  

• Sony Bravia Internet Video Link

TV shows will be available on these platforms for purchase for $2.99 and recently released movies available for rent for $3.99 to $4.99.

As you will see, Amazon, YouTube (Google), NBC (Hulu) all realize the trend - that consumers are continuing to cut the cord and go direct through broadband connections to their TVs.