Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has commissioned a string of big budget, web only shows. The company is producing at least 11 pilots with big names such as John Goodman and Bill Murray. The users will be able to watch the shows from the spring. According to the liking and reactions of the viewers, the destiny of these shows will be set, as whether to produce the series or to close the shows.
The new shows that are produced by the online retailing giant will be free on a service called Amazon Instant video, and viewers will be able to give their feedback on the shows. In Britain, the shows will be running on Love Film, the internet video service owned by Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). However, only Love Film subscribers in Britain and Amazon Prime subscribers in the United States will be able to access full series.
The pilots that are produced by Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) mainly focus on comedy and children’s programs, which include Alpha house starring Goodman, with a cameo played by Groundhog star Bill Murray.
“I’m always worried I’m going to be in a YouTube Video,” said Goodman, who made his name in the 1980s television series Cheers, but went on to star in Hollywood films such as The Big Lebowski. However, according to Goodman these shows are just as those on TV stars having full production value, great director and skilled technical people.
Onion News Empire is the other pilot, which is a television news satire and there is a musical comedy show Browsers. According to Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios in the near future there will be hardly any difference between the regular TV show and online TV show. He further added that one should take a feedback from the audience as to what they want to see and what they like.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) launched a show last month- House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey. The firm invested $100 million in the remake of classic British show. All of 26 episodes were readily available to the subscribers, who could sign up free for one month. The project was a success according to Todd Yelin, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)’s vice president of product innovation. Additionally, he said that it was the most viewed show ever on the internet video service mentioning “better than our wildest dreams” but did not mention the exact figure.
Other web giant Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is reportedly producing its own series. Companies like Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Intel and Twitter are reported to considering their prospects for the shows.
Both Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) are gearing up for a new war within the tech industry. Both the firms are focusing on cord-cutters, meaning moving away from traditional cable and movie rental service into digital content world. As per a study published back in November, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is performing well in the world of cord-cutting, but still has to go a long way to capture Netflix’s lion share in the segment. Last month, according to a report produced by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) and analytics firm ForeSee, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was the frontrunner in the online world well ahead of rival Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX).
