Amazon has ordered an original drama pilot for its soon-to-launch Indian service, with Slumdog Millionaire and 24 star Anil Kapoor on board. The series will be based upon the Michael Faber novel The Book of Strange New Things and will be produced by Sony’s UK-based prodco Left Bank Pictures (The Crown). Kevin MacDonald (The Last King […]
Amazon has given the green light to a new original series about the life of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner for its Prime Instant Video SVOD service. American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story will draw from access to over 17,000 hours of footage and 2,600 scrapbooks from Hefner’s personal archives. The 13-episode docu-series, which will combine […]
Amazon is dramatically ramping up its spending on original content, telling investors it will almost double its programme budget for the second half of the year, while tripling the number of original shows on its Prime Instant Video streaming service. The bold commitment to programming comes as its chief SVOD rival Netflix ramps ups its […]
UK pay TV net Universal Channel has acquired hot US cable series Mr. Robot. The NBCUniversal-owned channel will launch the USA Network show on July 21 following an agreement with cousin NBCUniversal International Distribution. Season one will debut with a feature-length, uninterrupted double episode. Amazon Prime Instant Video already offers it via the SVOD window […]
Amazon has reportedly launched a slate of Japan-produced original series for its Prime Video service. According to Bloomberg, Amazon is debuting 12 shows in a bid to up Japanese Prime membership, which also includes shipping retail privileges. The shows include Ultraman Orb, a spin-off of the Ultraman superhero franchise; documentary Invisible Tokyo; and high concept […]
Amazon has picked up buzzy US drama Preacher for its Prime Instant Video service in the Europe. Several other streaming and pay TV deals have also been inked for the show. The series launches on US cable net AMC this Sunday and will launch on Amazon as an SVOD exclusive internationally a day after. Instalments […]
Amazon’s new video platform could be a “serious threat” to Netflix and other SVOD platforms, according to IHS Technology. This is because Amazon Direct Video’s free-market approach “enables the discovery of new talent and cult content, which has previously proven so valuable to these kinds of services”, said IHS Technology’s senior analyst for home entertainment, […]
Amazon Prime Instant Video has acquired exclusive US streaming rights to British period drama Doctor Thorne. Amazon will launch the Julian Fellowes-penned show locally as an Amazon Original on May 20. This is after a deal with producer The Weinstein Company, which picked up North American distribution rights from the UK’s Hat Trick International last […]
Video streaming has “fundamentally changed” the TV industry’s competitive landscape, with 42% of TV time now dedicated to watching over-the-top services, according to new research. Adobe and The Diffusion Group research say more than two-fifths of viewing time is now spent with either subscription, transactional, or free streaming video services. Of this OTT viewing time, […]
Amazon is going head-to-head with streaming rival Netflix by launching its Prime Video as a standalone, pay-monthly service for the first time. In details published to its US site, Amazon revealed that it will now offer Prime Video as a US$8.99 per month subscription video-on-demand offering, as well as included in its broader Amazon Prime […]
