It has been a couple of years since Amazon has been in the original content business. Amazon Studios, the division tasked with production, today announced the launch of the first “Pilot Season” for 2015. Initial episodes for 13 new series which include documentary, drama, comedy and kids shows have been released. Amazon then relies upon feedback from viewers to decide which of the series will be picked up for full production and which ones will be canned.
Anyone can watch the new pilots online and provide feedback to Amazon as long as they reside in the U.S., UK or Germany. The pilots can be accessed through the web, select gaming consoles, smart TVs, Roku and the Amazon Instant Video app on mobile devices.
Six new pilots are geared for kids which include animated shows as well. Seven new comedy, drama and “docuseries” pilots include both hour-long and half-hour shows. Details about all shows are present in Amazon’s press release.
This is where Amazon is different from rivals like Netflix which are also creating their own content. Netflix decides on its own which series its going to make and then releases all of it once. Amazon first tests the waters with several pilots and then decides which ones are worthy enough to be turned into a full season, which obviously costs a lot of money.
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