Amazon Adds Syfy’s ‘Defiance’ Season 1 Under Exclusive NBCUniversal Pact

Amazon.com is now streaming Syfy’s “Defiance” season one exclusively on Prime Instant Video, ahead of the second season’s TV debut on June 19, continuing the Internet retailer’s strategy of catering to binge-viewers playing catch-up.

Amazon obtained exclusive subscription VOD rights to the Syfy show under a content-licensing deal with NBCUniversal announced last May. That pact also includes four other shows: NBC’s fantasy drama “Grimm” and psycho-thriller “Hannibal,” and USA’s “Suits” and “Covert Affairs.”

SEE ALSO: Linda Hamilton Tapped for Season Two of Syfy’s ‘Defiance’

“Defiance,” which is accompanied by an online game, is set in the year 2046 where various new species, including aliens, coexist with humans in a dramatically altered Earth. Series was developed by Rockne S. O’Bannon, Kevin Murphy and Michael Taylor.

The series is produced by Universal Cable Prods., and was developed as a partnership between Syfy and Trion Worlds as a convergence of TV and online gaming.

Amazon keeps stocking Prime Instant Video, available through the $99 annual Prime free-shipping program, with exclusive content — i.e., not available on Netflix or Hulu Plus. That includes all eight seasons of Fox’s “24,” as well as PBS’s “Downton Abbey,” BBC America’s “Orphan Black,” FX’s “The Americans,” CBS’s “Under the Dome” and several kids’ shows from Viacom’s Nick Jr. like “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Dora the Explorer.”

In addition, Amazon Studios recently greenlit another six original series, including Chris Carter’s “The After,” to be available on Prime Instant Video later in 2014 or early 2015. Amazon also this month launched Fire TV, a small streaming-video and gaming device, designed to reinforce the SVOD strategy and drive sales of digital media.

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