Amazon Instant Video allows on-demand streaming of thousands of television programs and episodes, many of them in HD. Programming in the catalog includes examples of nearly all genres, including comedies, dramas, game shows, reality TV and documentaries.
The Amazon catalog includes many current TV series, and the most recent episodes of the series are typically available, along with complete current and past seasons. Viewers can watch individual episodes for a one-time fee, or they can purchase an entire season for a single flat fee. Viewers may also purchase a pass that allows them access to past episodes from a series' current season as well as future episodes as they become available; the cost of a season pass is less than the cost of buying all episodes individually.
Amazon Prime members have access to some content at no additional charge. Prime membership involves a yearly fee that gives members free shipping on many products purchased through Amazon, along with access to free on-demand streaming of a catalog of movies and television programs. The Prime Instant Video catalog is more limited than the full Instant Video catalog, but the programming is offered free of advertisement, and there is no limit on the amount of video that members are allowed to stream.
