Prime Video Is Adding Free Short News Clips You Can Watch Anytime
Amazon Prime Video is adding short news videos you can watch anytime to its News section.
The company shared the plan on September 14, 2026. The videos will sit in two rows called Trending Topics and Local News. They will come first to TVs and living-room devices, then later to web browsers and the Prime Video phone apps. TechCrunch
You do not need to pay for Prime to watch. Local, national and world news on Prime Video is free for everyone in the U.S. The service already streams live news all day and night from major news providers.
The new videos will cover quick local stories, weather and national reports. About Amazon On iPhones and Android phones, Amazon said these will be short videos like the quick clips people scroll through on social media. The company did not say if the videos will be vertical, made for phone screens.
The feature runs on Clips, Prime Video's system for short, scrollable videos. About Amazon It started with NBA highlights and later added movie clips. News is different because it goes out of date fast and needs different labels and permissions than sports or movies.
This is part of a bigger push. Prime Video plans to invest more than $2 billion in Latin America through 2030 and more than double the number of local shows it makes in five countries starting in 2026. Reuters In the U.S., the Prime Video and sports group is led by Jay Marine, Head of Prime Video U.S. and Global Head of Sports. Bloomberg
The broader context here is keeping the news fresh. A morning weather report is not useful at night, and a national story can change in an hour. The rows need to be updated often, not left alone like a library of movies.
In my view, starting on TV is the choice to watch. On phones, people swipe up through full-screen videos. On a TV, you use a remote to move through rows. Amazon seems to be testing if quick news checks can work in the living room first.
Looking ahead, free news could help in a simple way. It gives people a reason to open Prime Video every day, not just at night. Local news is especially hard to find on big streaming apps, and short weather and local updates could fill that gap.
