Amazon gifts Prime members with free 6 months of Washington Post

It was some two years ago that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos purchased The Washington Post newspaper, and it was only a matter of time before the two things were brought together. The online merchant giant has just announced that subscribers to Amazon Prime are getting six months of the newspaper for free, along with a big discount afterwards. Now, this doesn't mean Prime members will be finding a physical newspaper on their doorstop each day, Amazon is smarter than that after all. Instead they'll be treated the paper's National Digital Edition.

Amazon says this will be a limited time offer. Following the free six months, Prime members can choose to continue the newspaper subscription for a reduced price of $4 per month, down from the standard $10 monthly price. Almost the exact same deal was previously offered to Kindle Fire owners, but making it available to all Prime members could lead to many more sign-ups.

While Bezos is in control of both companies, they still operate as separate entities. Today's promotion stands to benefit both, however, as The Washington Post could increase its subscriber count, while Amazon gets another feature to add to its Prime service.

The Post's National Digital Edition is roughly equivalent to all the news content that appears on their website and mobile app, albeit with a much nicer advertisement-free reading experience. This feature alone could be enough to attract Prime members to at least try the free six-month period.

SOURCE Amazon