Amazon hiring creative execs for original programming
Add Amazon to the list of online video providers that could soon release some new original programming. The company is looking to hire creative executives to develop and produce original comedies and kids shows for online and traditional distribution.
Context & Ripple Effects
Amazon's move from renting content to making it is the logical next step in a build-out already visible in its own numbers: the company says it has more than tripled the Prime Instant Video catalog since launch, and sources reported days earlier that it was close to a Web video content deal with Viacom — though that deal remains unconfirmed. The hiring notice adds a third leg: creative executives to develop original comedies and kids shows for both online and traditional distribution.
The story traveled widely for a hiring report, picked up by AllThingsD, SlashGear, and Electronista on or about February 10, 2012, because it reads as a strategic signal rather than a personnel item. Notably, Amazon simultaneously denied any plan to launch a standalone video service soon — framing originals as a Prime retention play, consistent with analysts' expectations of strong Kindle Fire volumes this year.
First-order effects
- Amazon shifts part of its video strategy from licensing to ownership, putting newly hired development executives in charge of greenlighting comedies and kids shows it will control outright rather than rent.
- Hollywood creative talent gains a new well-funded buyer for development deals, directly competing for executives and show concepts against established studios and premium cable.
Second-order effects
- Licensors such as Viacom — reportedly in talks with Amazon per unconfirmed sourcing — face a counterparty whose leverage grows as its own originals reduce dependence on licensed catalogs.
- Rival subscription video services are pressured to respond with exclusive programming of their own, since a tripled licensed library alone no longer differentiates Prime Instant Video.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, streaming services consolidate around owned IP as the durable moat, with licensed catalogs becoming commodity filler and rights prices bifurcating accordingly.
- Originals become a hardware accelerant: exclusive kids and comedy content gives devices like the Kindle Fire a reason to exist beyond price, tying media investment to device economics.
The trend: Subscription video platforms are shifting from licensed libraries to owned original programming as the primary competitive differentiator, with Amazon joining the race in 2012.