Amazon Massively Inflates Its Streaming Library Size  Amazon
counts individual episodes, not whole series, as "TV shows,"
which makes its Prime streaming catalog seem 10 times bigger
than it actually is.  Amazon boasts that it has "more than
17,000 movies and television shows" on Amazon Prime Instant
Video, its streaming service that competes with Netflix and Hulu
Plus. The "17,000" figure has been widely parroted in the media,
but where does the number come from?  Upon closer examination,
the total number of movies and TV shows available to Amazon
Prime members, who pay $79 a year, is actually far lower. Only
1,745 movies are available to stream on the company's Prime
service, and just roughly 150 TV series. The "17,000" figure is
not only misleading to consumers, but a faulty indicator of
Amazon's streaming library's strength versus competitors and
traditional entertainment offerings.  Amazon reached that number
by counting each episode of a TV series as an individual TV
show. For example, Amazon does not c