Amazon Orders Sitcom Pilots From Daily Show, Onion, Doonesbury Writers
Like Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu, Amazon is taking a stab at making its own Web video, starting with sitcoms and kids' shows. Here's the first foray from Jeff Bezos and company — an order for a half-dozen sitcom pilots …
Context & Ripple Effects
Amazon had already built the staffing for an originals operation through its creative-executive hiring and moved four TV projects into production in June. The new comedy-pilot slate turns that early development effort into a broader programming pipeline.
The move places Amazon alongside Netflix, Hulu and YouTube in the push by web-video distributors to commission entertainment rather than rely solely on acquired programming.
First-order effects
- Amazon gains six comedy pilots and relationships with writers associated with The Daily Show, The Onion and Doonesbury, expanding the set of projects it can develop under Amazon Studios.
- Netflix, Hulu and YouTube face another well-funded buyer for scripted-comedy concepts and the writers and producers behind them.
Second-order effects
- Competition for online-original talent becomes more direct as Amazon's initial four projects in production are joined by a dedicated sitcom slate.
- For viewers, the value proposition of web-video services shifts further toward exclusive programming rather than a catalog differentiated only by licensed titles.
Third-order effects
- If the commissioning pattern persists, web-video distributors will increasingly operate as studios, using original series to distinguish otherwise similar streaming offerings.
- The pilot model concentrates more influence over which shows advance in the hands of platform owners, rather than traditional television buyers alone.
The trend: Web-video platforms are evolving from distributors of licensed programming into direct commissioners of exclusive scripted entertainment.