Amazon and Comcast are teaming up, and it means good news for TV watchers

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Amazon and Comcast are joining forces in what should be a mutually beneficial partnership.

Amazon Cable Store, a new section of Amazon.com that has just debuted, is reselling Comcast's television and Internet services, according to TechCrunch. Users can sort different packages that include Internet-only deals and hybrid Internet and TV bundles, and then schedule an installation at the same rate Comcast currently charges.

The e-commerce giant could use this partnership to market itself as the go-to location for cable subscriptions, particularly skinny bundles. The Comcast deal also lays the groundwork for Amazon to partner with other cable companies, which would open up a new revenue stream for Amazon.

Furthermore, the Amazon-Comcast partnership offers a chance for a content-licensing agreement in which Comcast's content appears on Amazon Prime, though this is strictly speculation at this point because details on the partnership are scarce.

The deal could also help Comcast because it increases the company's exposure to a digital audience as cable subscriptions continue to decline. Amazon.com logs about two billion visits each month, according to SimilarWeb.

Comcast also has been criticized for its customer service, but those who sign up through Amazon will have access to the e-commerce company's customer service through phone, email, chat, and social media channels.

The partnership between Amazon and Comcast is another way that cable companies are adjusting their strategies as cable subscriptions continue to decline. The rise of skinny bundles and subscription services such as Netflix and Hulu have led some to question if traditional pay-TV even has a place anymore.

Margaret Boland, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on subscription video on-demand services that examines how the growth of SVOD is coming at the expense of the pay-TV industry. The report analyzes the state of the pay-TV industry and maps out which demographics are more likely to stop buying traditional TV packages.

The report also discuss the user base, original content offerings, and subscription models of the major subscription streaming services available today, including Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video. Finally, it looks at how traditional pay-TV companies and premium channels like HBO and Showtime are addressing the shift to digital viewing, as well as the implications of their response for advertisers.

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Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• Those abandoning pay-TV packages fall into three main groups: cord-nevers, cord-cutters, and cord-shavers. Whereas video streaming services have found favor with younger viewers in particular, an increasing portion of older subscribers also are leaving behind their pay-TV packages. Still, younger viewers watch four times as much video content online than older viewers.
• Netflix is the largest SVOD service and will continue to dominate the industry with an impressive original content lineup and aggressive expansion plans.
• Amazon is trying to compete with Netflix by investing significant resources in original content.
• Hulu is the third-largest SVOD service, but the only one to offer ad-supported membership tiers. Hulu has been the slowest to roll out original and exclusive content, but it has inked numerous deals in the past year to boost its content library.
• Pay-TV companies are responding to the rise of SVOD services by offering subscribers "skinny bundles" and their own streaming services.

In full, the report:

• Illustrates the fall of the traditional TV package and the rise of broadband only cable subscriptions.
• Lays out the different types of viewers that are leaving behind pay-TV: cord-cutters, cord-shavers, and cord-nevers.
• Examines the leading SVOD services including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and premium channel offerings from HBO and Showtime.
• Explains the various ways that pay-TV companies are responding to the rise of SVOD services, notably skinny bundles and standalone streaming services.
• Considers what the migration to SVOD services means to marketers.

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The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of subscription video on-demand services.