Amazon's Stand-Alone Streaming Targets Netflix

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Amazon is taking on Netflix and Hulu with its own stand-alone video streaming service, just weeks before Netflix raises prices for longtime subscribers.

New customers can now pay $8.99 a month to watch Amazon’s Prime video streaming service. Previously, the only way to watch Amazon’s videos was to pay $99 a year for Prime membership, which includes free two-day shipping on items sold by the site, and other perks.

At $9 a month, Amazon’s stand-alone streaming service is $1 less than Netflix’s standard membership and $1 more than Hulu’s basic subscription.

Netflix said earlier this year that a “substantial number” of its longtime members who paid $8 monthly - and have been protected from price hikes - will now pay an additional $2 starting in May.