Amazon's Fire TV pulls in big new content deals, follows Apple's lead

Amazon announced a slew of new content deals this morning, setting expectations for what’s to come this year to the young Fire TV.

Following recent additions from the Disney Channel and MLB, Amazon touts that shows from the following networks will be made available on the Fire TV by year’s end: Watch ABC, Watch ABC Family, NFL Now, A&E, Lifetime, Outside TV, Young Hollywood, North Face TV, Fashion TV, Green TV, and Dailymotion.

Although Amazon is no stranger to media company negotiations, the Fire TV is an infant among set-top boxes. This is why Amazon is stuck in catch-up mode with Apple’s TV for the moment: Among the 14 new “channels,” five of the biggest additions mirror content deals first secured for Apple’s seven-year-old hobby — six if today’s Apple TV-NFL rumor is accurate.

The overlap certainly isn’t surprising. Although Apple’s set-top box lacks the sense of adventure many analysts hoped for, Apple has long shacked up with A-players like ABC and Disney.

Amazon’s Fire TV, on the other hand, stands out with features that never arrived on the Apple TV: Siri-like voice control and gaming.