Fire TV — one of the most popular streaming devices from Amazon, gives users access to a wide catalog of video content via the internet. It is a portal to different streaming platforms, and with just plug-and-play, users can access content (TV shows, movies, etc.) on demand. To add access to more content, the company is now introducing a new feature, Live TV, on the Fire TV device, in India.
With the Live TV feature, users can access Live TV content from the services they have subscribed to on their Fire TV. To make this possible, the company has got popular content providers like SonyLIV, Voot, Discovery+, NextG TV, and Zee5 (coming soon) on board to integrate their Live TV experience on its streaming device. These providers open access to popular channels, such as Sony SAB HD, Colors HD, SET HD, Nick HD+, Dangal, DD National, News18 India, MTV Beats HD, SONY BBC Earth HD, Mastii TV Music, and Discovery, with content from Zee5 expected to be available soon.
Fire TV users who have subscribed to any of these content providers and have downloaded their apps on their Fire TV will see an ‘On Now’ row on the home screen. There will be a red bar on the bottom of each content thumbnail to indicate the real-time progress. Furthermore, users can also set channels as favorite and access them using voice via Alexa.
In addition, with the Live TV feature, users can also access the Fire TV channel guide in the ‘Options’ row of the ‘Live’ tab, which makes accessing Live TV and favorite channels hassle-free and easy. On the other hand, for customers who have the new Fire TV Lite, the company made Live TV discovery even easier by providing a guide button on the Alexa Voice Remote Lite.
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“Since launching in India, Fire TV has been offering a vast selection of on-demand movies, TV shows, popular apps and features to customers. With Live TV integration, we are making this experience even better by providing instant access to popular, real-time content for our customers without having to switch inputs. It enriches the content experience by streaming live TV on the much-loved Fire TV interface, just by asking Alexa. Amazon will continuously expand this selection and offer the best of live TV experiences to our customers,” said Parag Gupta, Head of Amazon Devices, India.
Availability
As for the availability of the new feature, Amazon says the ‘Live’ tab will start rolling out to all the existing Fire TV and Fire TV Edition customers today and will be available over the next few weeks. And, the ‘On Now’ row will be available on the basis of customers’ app downloads and subscription status. New customers, on the other hand, will get access to the ‘Live’ tab within a few weeks after they have activated their device, with the ‘On Now’ row available depending on the subscription status.