Virgin Media is bringing Amazon Prime Video to its TV V6 set-top box, enabling its subscribers to access watch thousands of new boxsets and movies. For the first time, Virgin TV V6 users subscribers will be able to tune-in to watch The Grand Tour, The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel, Good Omens and Jack Ryan on the big screen without the need to cough-up for a separate Amazon Fire TV Stick, or Fire TV Stick 4K.
Plans to bring Prime Video to the Virgin TV V6 were announced last month, although Virgin Media kept suspiciously quiet about exactly when viewers could expect the update beyond the vague promise of "summer". The partnership marks the first time Prime Video has struck a deal with Virgin Media to be included on its set-top box, which is currently used by some four million in the UK.
But that is about to change. Speaking exclusively to T3, a Virgin Media spokesperson said news on the Prime Video update would be coming "very soon".
"The wait is almost over for Virgin Media customers with the launch of Amazon Prime Video on our V6 box this summer," a spokesperson told T3.
"Our customers will be able to seamlessly search for and watch thousands of TV shows, movies and Amazon Originals plus live Premier League games being shown in December. Amazon’s Ultra High Definition content will also be available.
"Powered by our ultrafast broadband, we continue to give our customers the pick of the best telly all in one place. We’ll have more news very soon."
Details of exactly how Amazon's Prime Video service will be integrated into Virgin Media TV V6 box are still scarce. But it seems very likely the on-demand service will be incorporated in exactly the same manner as Netflix, which has been baked into Virgin Media's hardware since 2013.
Amazon Prime Video has a variety of original shows and movies, including Good Omens and the award-winning Manchester by the Sea and The Big Sick
Virgin TV V6 owners can watch Netflix boxsets, movies and exclusives via a designated app included in the main menu. Better yet, Netflix content appears alongside results from the TV guide, recordings, Virgin Store, and other on-demand and catch-up services whenever you search for a movie, show, actor, or genre on the TV V6. It's a surprisingly deep integration into the set-top box.
Since Virgin TV V6 supports Ultra HD content, viewers will likely be able to watch their favourite Prime Video originals, boxsets and movies in the pixel-packed format.
Virgin Media has comfortably beaten rival Sky Q to the punch with this highly-requested feature. After announcing the integration with Netflix in September last year, the ability to sign-in to an existing Netflix account on Sky Q, or bundle the subscription into your monthly Sky Q bills, didn't launch until November 2018.
As such, it seems unlikely that we'll see the ability to watch the thousands of hours of television boxsets and movies available on Prime Video on Sky Q for a little while yet.
T3 will have more news about the Prime Video app in Virgin Media TV V6 as soon as it launches. So, stay tuned for more.
