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Amazon.com Inc. is on the verge of a massive global rollout of its streaming video service, people familiar with the matter said, taking direct aim at rival Netflix Inc.

The e-commerce giant will likely expand its video service into about 200 countries, the people said. Amazon Prime Video is only available now in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Austria and Japan, with a planned launch in India.

Hints about the impending rollout leaked on Wednesday, when Jeremy Clarkson, the high-profile star of the forthcoming Amazon show "The Grand Tour," said in tweets that viewers in 200 countries will be able to watch the automotive comedy show starting in December. The show debuts on Friday.

"Amazon has gone global," tweeted Mr. Clarkson. "It's going to be available in 200 territories. That's pretty much everywhere."

In a YouTube video released Wednesday featuring Mr. Clarkson and co-stars Richard Hammond and James May, the stars read a distraught customer's letter complaining that he won't be able to watch "The Grand Tour" because "Amazon Prime isn't available in my country...Screw you, 'Grand Tour,' screw you." The stars open a package from Amazon to find a letter saying that "in December, we will be launching the show globally—in over 200 countries around the world."

An Amazon website for the show noted that it will appear exclusively on Amazon.

That could mean Amazon would expand its video service into countries where its Prime shipping membership isn't available. Amazon video is currently only in a subset of the 12 countries where the shipping membership is available.

A global expansion of Amazon's video service would introduce a formidable competitor to Netflix around the world. Netflix is already available world-wide except for a few countries with stringent regulations or authoritarian regimes like China and North Korea. The streaming juggernaut expanded into 130 countries in January, reaching a near-global footprint of more than 190 countries.

While Netflix competes with many local players, Amazon's presence means another deep-pocketed tech company with strong Hollywood connections will be vying for a piece of the streaming market -- courting Western-oriented audiences who can typically afford to pay more for entertainment.

Laura Stevens contributed to this article.

Write to Shalini Ramachandran at shalini.ramachandran@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 17, 2016 15:55 ET (20:55 GMT)

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