Amazon Prime Video originals

Amazon's video service went through several names before it had any shows of its own: Amazon Unbox at its US debut in September 2006, Amazon Video on Demand from 2008 and Amazon Instant Video from 2011. Its first originals arrived in April 2013, when the Washington satire Alpha House and the comedy Betas were offered exclusively online — three episodes free at once, the rest weekly for Prime members.

Awards and a motoring trio

Transparent gave the service its first major award in January 2015, becoming the first streaming series to win the Golden Globe for best musical or comedy series. That July Amazon signed Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May for a car show, which became The Grand Tour and premiered on 18 November 2016 — weeks before Prime Video expanded worldwide on 14 December 2016.

Larger genre series followed: The Boys in July 2019, The Rings of Power in September 2022, built on Tolkien television rights Amazon bought in 2017, and Fallout in April 2024. Amazon's takeover of the MGM studio closed in March 2022.

The LoveFilm route

British viewers came to Amazon's streaming by way of LoveFilm, the UK-based DVD-by-post and streaming company in which Amazon took full control in 2011. LoveFilm's streaming service was folded into Amazon Instant Video on 26 February 2014, while its postal discs carried on until 31 October 2017.

UK partners have been a recurring thread since. Fleabag was made for BBC Three in a co-production deal with Amazon, Good Omens is shared with BBC Studios, and the second series of Clarkson's Farm became Prime Video's most-watched original in the UK on release.

Key dates

1. 7 September 2006

   Amazon Unbox launches

   Amazon's video service debuts in the United States under its first name.

   Source: Wikipedia: Amazon Prime Video

2. 19 April 2013

   Alpha House premieres

   Garry Trudeau's Senate satire is among Amazon's first original series.

   Source: Wikipedia: Alpha House

3. 26 February 2014

   LoveFilm streaming folds into Amazon

   LoveFilm's UK video-on-demand service is replaced by Amazon Instant Video.

   Source: Wikipedia: LoveFilm

4. 18 November 2016

   The Grand Tour premieres

   Clarkson, Hammond and May's motoring show launches after their departure from Top Gear.

   Source: Wikipedia: The Grand Tour

5. 14 December 2016

   Prime Video goes worldwide

   The service expands beyond its first handful of countries to most of the world.

   Source: Wikipedia: Amazon Prime Video

6. 11 June 2021

   Clarkson's Farm begins

   Jeremy Clarkson's Cotswolds farming series premieres on Prime Video.

   Source: Wikipedia: Clarkson's Farm