SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ:AMZN)—Amazon and Audible today announced a new premium spoken-word benefit for Prime members in the U.S. Members now enjoy unlimited free access to the new short-form digital audio service, Audible Channels, as well as a rotating selection of more than 50 audiobooks from Audible’s catalog. Audible Channels for Prime now joins the growing list of all-you-can-eat benefits for Prime members including guaranteed unlimited fast, free shipping, unlimited access to Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Photos, early access to Lightning Deals and more. Prime members can access Audible Channels for Prime by downloading the Audible app for iOS, Android, and Windows 10. To learn more about Audible Channels for Prime, please visit www.amazon.com/audiblechannels.
“As a longtime Audible member, I cannot wait for Prime members to discover this new premium spoken-word experience—for free,” said Greg Greeley, Vice President, Prime. “Tens of millions of members in the U.S. already enjoy the many benefits of Prime including unlimited fast, free Prime shipping, Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Photos, and exclusive products and discounts. Prime provides a one-of-a-kind digital-physical hybrid benefit experience and now members can add Audible Channels and audiobooks to their daily habits.”
Audible Channels
Introduced this year, Audible Channels features a consistently refreshed, thoughtfully organized selection of original programs, distinctive comedy, lectures, and audio editions of standout articles and news from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Foreign Affairs, Charlie Rose, McSweeney’s, The Onion, and other leading periodicals. Audible Channels also showcases 20 hand-selected Audible Playlists, from essential stories of the day, meditation and commute-sized comedy to compilations on science, history, technology and more. Now free for Prime members, Audible Channels is otherwise available to purchase for $4.95 a month or the equivalent of $59.40 per year.
The lineup of ad-free programming includes:
- Presidents are People Too!, a series that transforms U.S. Presidents into real-life people complete with quirks, flaws, triumphs, scandals and bodily ailments, hosted by former “The Daily Show” head writer Elliott Kalan and American historian Alexis Coe
- Bedtime Stories for Cynics, inappropriate children’s stories for adults only, presented by Nick Offerman of “Parks and Recreation” fame
- Hold On with Eugene Mirman, in which Mirman pauses funny live stories and gets his special comedian guests, including Jim Gaffigan and “Weird Al” Yankovic to divulge new details
- Limelight, highlighting the best new standup performances from comedy clubs across the country, with rotating guest hosts such as T. J. Miller, Ron Funches and the Sklar Brothers
- Lectures from The Great Courses
Prime members will also discover the first episodes or previews of the following original programs, subsequent episodes of which they’ll be able to explore and enjoy for free in the coming months:
- The Butterfly Effect, hosted by Jon Ronson, which explores the question, what happens when we expect things for free?
- Ponzi Supernova, a fascinating look at Bernard Madoff, the man behind the largest Ponzi scheme in history, featuring exclusive jailhouse interviews with Madoff himself
- Damned Spot, a series that examines the afterlife of places defined by tragic events
- West Cork, a true crime series about an unsolved society murder, set on the south coast of Ireland
- Extra Credit with Neal Pollack, in which the author, musician and comedian takes his 13-year-old son’s education into his own hands, and hilarity ensues
New original programs will be introduced regularly.
Audible Playlists include:
- Get Smart, in which Audible editors scour the world to unearth uncommon knowledge that will make you the most interesting person you know
- Punchlines, your front-row seat to comedy clubs across America (without the two-drink minimum)
- Science This, in which Audible editors uncover the accessible and fascinating science that connects you to your universe
- Impact, your source of insights, commentary and reporting to give perspective, meaning and context to the news
“The ultimate mission of Audible Channels is to invent new ways to unleash the power of well-composed and artfully spoken words,” said Don Katz, Audible founder and CEO. “As millions of people every year discover the joy and utility of quality listening, Audible Channels will be the place where superior short-form audio information and entertainment captures and conveys a compelling sense of the world for daily consumption in fast-twitch time. We’re thrilled to make this evolving listening innovation available to Prime members.”
Free Audiobook Selection for Prime Members
Prime members will also be able to stream a rotating selection of more than 50 premium audiobooks, across nine Prime-exclusive channels, including:
- Top-rated audiobooks across a range of genres, such as Mary Kubica’s The Good Girl, Karl Marlantes’ What It Is Like to Go to War, Matthew Quick’s The Silver Linings Playbook, Anne Lamott’s Stitches and Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game Alive
- Celebrity-narrated classics, such as Scarlett Johansson’s performance of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Rosamund Pike’s narration of Pride and Prejudice, and a full-cast recording of Dracula, starring Alan Cumming
- Shared listening experiences for the family, including Clifford the Big Red Dog, Winnie-the-Pooh, and The Velveteen Rabbit
More to Prime
Tens of millions of Prime members around the world enjoy the many benefits of Prime. In the U.S., that includes unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on more than 30 million items across all categories, unlimited Free Same-Day Delivery on more than a million items in 27 major cities and one and two-hour delivery with Prime Now on tens of thousands of items available in more than 25 metro areas. In addition to fast, free Prime shipping, members have access to unlimited streaming of tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes with Prime Video, more than one million songs and thousands of curated playlists and stations with Prime Music, early access to select Lightning Deals all year long, free secure unlimited photo storage with Prime Photos and one free pre-released book a month with Kindle First. To learn more or start a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, visit www.amazon.com/prime.
About AUDIBLE, INC.
Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading provider of premium digital spoken audio information and entertainment, offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible was created to unleash the emotive music in language and the habituating power and utility of verbal expression. Audible content includes more than 300,000 audio programs from leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers. Audible serves millions of listeners around the world through dedicated Audible sites in the UK, Germany, France, Australia, Japan and Italy. Audible is also the preeminent provider of spoken-word audio products for Apple’s iTunes Store.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about.
