Amazon Getting into Pay TV

Amazon.com Inc. (Seattle) is seeking rights for an online pay-television service, according to a report by Bloomberg News.

The service would offer live programming similar to traditional pay TV providers. Bloomberg sources said Amazon began reaching out to media companies in recent weeks.

The company has been moving into entertainment, starting with its Amazon Prime subscription service, a direct competitor to Netflix Inc. (Los Garos, Calif.), that offers unlimited viewing of 41,000 films and TV shows, along with free shipping on many items and book rentals to read on its Kindle tablet.

The company has also been planning to release a television set-top box that would stream video over the Internet into customers’ homes.

If Amazon follows through with this new service, it will join Sony Corp. (New York), which recently said it will offer an online service, and Verizon Communications Inc. (New York), which has announced it will introduce a nationwide plan.

“We continue to build selection for Prime Instant Video and create original shows at Amazon Studios,” an Amazon spokesman told Bloomberg. “We are not planning to license television channels or offer a pay-TV service.”