Farmers will plant the most acres in a generation this year, led by the biggest corn crop since World War II, taking advantage of the highest agricultural prices in at least four decades.Amazon.com has approached media companies including Time Warner with plans to start an online video subscription service to compete with Netflix, said three sources with knowledge of the talks.
The service, sold for a monthly fee by the Seattle-based Web retailer, would consist of older films and TV shows, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the conversations are private.
Time Warner, MTV owner Viacom and General Electric’s NBC Universal have also been contacted, the sources said.
Amazon.com Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is broadening the retailer’s digital entertainment services to combat rivals such as Netflix, Hulu and Apple, which distributes a range of music, TV and film through its iTunes online bazaar.
Amazon would structure content deals in ways similar to Netflix, which pays media companies for rights to stream TV shows and films over the Web, said one of the people.
The subscription service would be accessible on Web browsers and Internet-connected TV sets, Blu-ray players and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 video-game console, according to the Wall Street Journal, which reported Amazon’s plans Tuesday.
Amazon currently sells film and TV show downloads and rents movies through its website and on Roku, TiVo and Sony devices, among others.
