Families are stuck at home for the foreseeable future due to Coronavirus. That likely has tempers rising, kids complaining of boredom, and parents struggling to find things for the little ones to do.
Amazon (AMZN 0.80%) has offered a bit of help, making a selection of children's and family friendly movies and television shows available for free without an Amazon Prime membership, according to a TechCrunch report. Normally, the online retailer's video service is only available to people who pay for Prime.
Amazon is offering some free famiy-friendly programming to anyone who wants to watch. Image source: Getty Images.
What is Amazon doing?
The online giant has decided to be generous and open a small piece of its video catalog up to people who can't otherwise access it. Amazon can offer all of its self-produced family/kids programming for free, but it has to negotiate with third-party content providers for the right to share their content. Because of that, the availability of licensed/partner-produced content will vary around the world.
People who want to watch shows still will have to create an Amazon account. The company is working with its various content partners to extend the selection.
Why is Amazon doing this?
Amazon will be one of the few companies that comes out of the coronavirus pandemic stronger than when it went in. The company sells many staples that consumers need to make it through a long period of social distancing. It is likely adding new customers while doing more business with existing ones.
Offering access to some of its video may help families pass the time a little easier. Hopefully, more companies will step up with similar offers.
