Business

Discovery to make shows available through Amazon’s streaming video service

Cable powerhouse Discovery Communications has struck a deal to make popular shows such as “Dirty Jobs,” “Whale Wars” and “Say Yes to the Dress” available through Amazon’s streaming video service, The Post has learned.

The agreement with Amazon Prime’s instant video service will draw on programming across Discovery’s 13 cable channels to include TLC, Animal Planet and the flagship Discovery, sources said.

The pact, which could be announced as early as today, will help power Amazon Prime, a membership program that offers access to a library of movies and TV shows in addition to free two-day shipping for $79 a year.

While financial terms couldn’t be confirmed, Amazon’s package of programming is similar in scope to the deal Discovery struck with Netflix six months ago. The Netflix deal was for two years, with an option for a third year.

Amazon is catching up to Netflix when it comes to inking deals with content providers. The Web retailer just notched a deal with Viacom and has pacts in place with Disney, CBS and others.

However, Amazon trails Netflix in terms of subscribers. Although Amazon doesn’t break out Prime numbers, Bloomberg reported that it has 3 million to 5 million streaming customers. Netflix has more than 21.7 million streaming subscribers in the US.

For Discovery, the deal is yet another reason to cheer the arrival of digital dollars, which were virtually nonexistent a few years ago.

What’s more, new players seem to be lining up by the day, including Comcast’s newly launched Xfinity Streampix and Dish’s Blockbuster, in addition to more established players like Hulu Plus.