Nickelodeon/Everett Viacom inked a deal with Amazon after failing to renew with Netflix. 
 
 One day late last month, Kristin Johnson turned on Netflix Inc. and was upset to find that programming from the Nick Jr. kids channel had disappeared from the streaming video outlet, including some of the favorite shows of her two young children. 
 
 Amazon has reached a deal with Viacom to stream programs from its networks Nickelodeon, MTV, Nick Jr. and Comedy Central. MarketWatch's Rex Crum discusses what the deal means for Amazon. (Photo: Getty Images) 
 
 Netflix and the channel's owner, Viacom Inc., had failed to renew their licensing agreement covering a broad range of TV content. But on Tuesday, Viacom announced an agreement with Netflix's biggest online rival, Amazon.com Inc., granting that company the streaming rights to hundreds of its shows, including exclusive rights to Nick Jr. programming. 
 
 Ms. Johnson, for one, was happy: She was already a subscriber to Amazon's Prime service though she had never taken advantage of its Instant Video streaming feature. 
 
 Nickelodeon/Everett Children's shows like 'Blue's Clues,' shown, have moved to Amazon Prime. 
 
 "I've been celebrating about it today," said Ms. Johnson, a medical photographer who lives in the Boston area. She doesn't plan to cancel her $7.99 monthly Netflix subscription, though, because her 6-year-old likes some shows on the service. 
 
 As a result of the deal, financial terms of which weren't disclosed, subscribers to Amazon's $79-per-year service will be able to watch past seasons of children's shows such as "Blue's Clues" and "Dora the Explorer" and future episodes of "SpongeBob SquarePants," as well as adult fare from other channels, like Comedy Central's "Tosh.O" and MTV's "Awkward." 
 
 A person familiar with the situation said the deal will last a bit more than two years. 
 
 Viacom's deal with Amazon shows how media companies are trying to adapt to the shifting dynamics of the online video world. Digital licensing is a fast-growing source of revenue for Viacom and other content owners, but the negotiation dance has become more complicated. 
 
 Netflix, the largest subscription video site—with nearly 28 million paid domestic subscribers at the end of March—has been a reliably big customer in the past few years. Lately, though, Netflix has become more choosy about the content it acquires. The company increasingly wants exclusive deals and wants to target programming it believes will perform well rather than purchasing large libraries of content from media companies. 
 
 As a result, media companies are banking on Amazon and other emerging buyers of digital content to bid for their programming and maintain momentum in digital licensing revenues. Amazon had about 10 million Prime members as of the end of 2012, which could increase to 25 million by the end of 2017, according to Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy. 
 
 "The ideal long-term solution is to have multiple bidders in this game," said Alan Gould, an analyst at Evercore Partners . 
 
 Among the potential buyers, besides Amazon and Netflix, are Hulu, the video site that is now up for sale; Redbox Instant, a subscription video joint venture of Coinstar Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.; and Intel Corp., which is developing a cable-TV style service to run over the Internet. Cable operators also could become significant bidders as they purchase more content for "TV Everywhere," an industry term for services through which pay-TV subscribers can get shows on computers and mobile devices. 
 
 At the moment, media companies don't have clarity on the value of their TV-Everywhere rights and measuring viewing on tablets—something critical for advertisers—is still difficult. "In time the content owners are going to try to monetize TV-Everywhere rights in a more aggressive fashion," said Nomura analyst Michael Nathanson. 
 
 In their negotiations, Netflix and Viacom differed on the price of Viacom's content and how much should be exclusive to Netflix, among other issues, according to people familiar with the matter. Netflix wanted a deal that would preclude Viacom from striking certain TV-Everywhere deals. 
 
 Some Wall Street analysts had raised questions about the potential impact on Viacom of the Netflix deal expiring. The deal generated approximately $130 million in annual revenue for Viacom, according to Nomura, 1.4% of Viacom's total. 
 
 Viacom has played down those concerns, saying it could sell to other digital distributors and is on target for 10% growth this fiscal year in its affiliate revenue, which includes digital licensing. Viacom remains in discussions with Netflix over a more limited deal. 
 
 Viacom was interested in an Amazon tie-up for several reasons. Amazon was willing to license more library content than Netflix—including 1990s Nickelodeon shows—and offered price and exclusivity terms that were more appealing to Viacom, a person familiar with the situation said. A deal with Amazon also offers the potential to market merchandise related to shows like "Dora the Explorer" to Amazon's customers. 
 
 "Amazon is very good at mining customer data," Mr. Hottovy said. 
 
 Netflix says it still offers a variety of other popular kids programming from the likes of Walt Disney Co.'s Disney Channel, Time Warner Inc.'s Cartoon Network and Hasbro's Hub network. 
 
 Amazon and Netflix have been ratcheting up their competition for streaming rights, bidding large amounts for the content they want. On the day Netflix was celebrating the debut of its critically acclaimed original series "House of Cards" earlier this year, Amazon announced it had landed exclusive rights to the popular PBS costume drama "Downton Abbey"—a series whose first season had been available on Netflix. 
 
 Bill Carr, Amazon's vice president of digital music and content, said the rise and success of streaming services like his and Netflix's gave studios extra incentive to create shows that could remain popular beyond their initial run on television. "There are a lot of opportunities for content creators today" to market their catalogs, he said. 
 
 Both Netflix and Amazon are plunging into developing original programming, too. Amazon last month selected five pilots it will underwrite that will air on its streaming video service later this year after asking its user to vote on their favorites. Also forthcoming on Amazon is "Under the Dome," a CBS miniseries based on the Stephen King book. In addition to "House of Cards," Netflix is airing new episodes of cult favorite "Arrested Development" and next month launches "Orange is the New Black," a comedy-drama from Lionsgate Television. 
 
 Mr. Carr said Amazon's exclusive deals were helping to bring more users to the service, including from rivals. "A big part of our strategy is to make us home to exclusive content," he said. 
 
 Morningstar's Mr. Hottovy estimated Amazon is spending as much as $1 billion a year on content deals. Netflix is spending over $2 billion per year on content licensing and originals. 
 
 Amazon also is developing a set-top box for streaming video content that it could release later this year, people familiar with the company's plans said last month. 
 
 Write to Amol Sharma at amol.sharma@wsj.com and Greg Bensinger at greg.bensinger@wsj.com 

 Are you upset that Dora the Explorer is no longer on Netflix? It might be time to switch to Amazon Prime, where Dora, SpongeBob and hundreds of other Viacom TV shows will now have a home. 
 
 Amazon and Viacom announced a new multi-year licensing agreement on Tuesday that brings thousands of episodes Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., MTV and Comedy Central shows to Amazon Prime. The deal is an expansion of a previous deal Viacom and Amazon signed in 2012, and comes in the wake of the loss of Viacom content from streaming rival Netflix. 
 
 While the terms of the new agreement weren't disclosed, people familiar with the deal told Mashable that it was "in the hundreds of millions" and classified it as Amazon's biggest content deal to date. 
 
 And good news for European users: Amazon Lovefilm customers in Germany and the UK will be getting some of these shows later this summer. Given the difficulties of international content deals, it's impressive that Amazon will be able to offer a subset of programming to its customers outside the United States. 
 
 While content from across Viacom's networks are included in the deal, Amazon is putting special focus on its offerings for kids. 
 
 "Kids shows are one of the most watched TV genres on Prime Instant Video," said Bill Carr, Amazon's VP of digital video and music, in a statement about the deal. 
 
 Amazon Prime users will have full access to the Nick and Nick Jr. shows, and select shows from Nick and Nick Jr. will be available on Kindle FreeTime Unlimited — a service our own Pete Pachal has called "Amazon's secret weapon." Kindle FreeTime Unlimited is a cheaper subscription offering for Kindle Fire owners that gives them access to an assortment of kid-friendly video programming. 
 
 Amazon Prime Instant is available on the web, as well as Roku, iOS, Kindle Fire, Xbox, PlayStation 3 and a number of smart TVs and Blu-ray players. 
 
 Do these new shows make you more likely to consider an Amazon Prime subscription? Let us know in the comments. As for me, I'm off to watch Teen Mom 2. 
 
 Image courtesy of Nickelodeon
– Last month, with the two companies at odds over renewal terms, Viacom's licensing deal with Netflix ended. Now, Viacom is bringing its shows, from the likes of Nickelodeon, MTV, and Comedy Central, over to Amazon in a multiyear streaming deal, the Wall Street Journal reports. (You can see them in a category that's actually titled "Prime Member Exclusives: Not on Netflix.) TV fare involving Dora and SpongeBob were likely part of the appeal: "Kids' shows are one of the most watched TV genres on Prime Instant Video," says an Amazon rep. The specifics of the deal remain murky, but insiders tell Mashable it's Amazon's largest content deal yet, "in the hundreds of millions" of dollars. Netflix and Viacom had hit snags over questions of pricing and exclusivity. Netflix is getting pickier about its content, the Journal notes, seeking material that will be a hit rather than just giant libraries.