SEATTLE _ Amazon.com is adding audio books and podcasts to its burgeoning buffet of perks for Prime members.
Beginning Tuesday, the Seattle-based company is expected to make some content from its audiobooks subsidiary, Audible.com, free to U.S. shoppers who pay for the $99-a-year Prime loyalty program.
That includes unlimited access to Audible Channels, a collection of short-form audio series that include podcasts by CNET and the Onion, as well as original programs. Audible usually charges $4.95 a month for access to the full Channels lineup.
In addition, Amazon will throw in a rotating selection of 50 audiobooks. (The standalone Audible.com subscription is about $15.)
The move shows how Amazon marshals its somewhat disparate array of businesses into making the Prime membership a more compelling deal for customers.
Prime's value centers on unlimited two-day shipping, but increasingly media content is becoming a key component of the offer.
Members get a streaming video service that has earned critical acclaim; the company has said it would double spending on video content in the second half of 2016 versus the previous year.
Then there's a limited-catalog streaming music service, and now, audio. It's a bit like a Costco Wholesale membership, if the Costco card could play movies and talk.
In exchange, Amazon gets consumers to pay for the privilege of shopping at Amazon, which is a huge incentive to stay within the retail giant's enclosure. Experts estimate that Prime members spend twice as much as non-members do.
Moreover, Amazon gets a tidy source of cash. It doesn't break out exactly how much, as revenue from membership fees is allocated among different business segments, including product sales, service sales and shipping. But some basic math could help with an estimate.
Analysts with Piper Jaffray estimate that between 57 million and 61 million U.S. households have signed up with Prime. That could mean between $5.6 billion and $6 billion in annual revenue, a sizable chunk for a company that in 2015 reported $107 billion on its top line.
And that doesn't even include Prime members in other countries.
