Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) announced that its film production division, Amazon Studios, will debut 13 original TV series for the first pilot season of 2015 on Jan 15 in the U.S., U.K. and Germany.
These include seven new comedy, drama and docu-series pilots — Cocked by Samuel Baum and Sam Shaw; Mad Dogs by Cris Cole; The Man in the High Castle directed by David Semel and written by Frank Spotnitz; Point of Honor directed by Randall Wallace and written by Carlton Cuse; Down Dog written by Robin Schiff and directed by Bradley Silberling; Salem Rogers directed by Mark Waters and an half hour docu-series The New Yorker Presents produced by Dave Snyder and Dawn Ostroff.
Additionally, the company will debut three kids pilots for preschool-aged children which include Buddy: Tech Detective created by Jon Burton, Dicker and Jocelyn Stevenson, Sara Solves It produced by WGBH and The Stinky & Dirty Show written by Guy Toubes. Other kids’ pilots for children aged 6-11 years include Niko and the Sword of Light written by Rob Hoegee, Table 58 written by May Chan and Just Add Magic directed by Joe Nussbaum.
Management stated that these pilots can also be viewed using Amazon Instant Video app available on Amazon’s Fire TV, Kindle Fire tablets, Fire phone, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Roku, Xbox, PlayStation, Wii and other connected devices. Amazon Studios will take a call on which shows to produce, going forward, depending on viewers’ feedback.
Amazon has been firing on all cylinders to boost its digital media sales and attract new users. In this regard, the company is focusing on a wide gamut of programs, including comedy, drama, docu-series and kids offerings, to expand its content line-up and make Prime Instant video service more attractive to viewers.
These pilots will further extend the archive of shows available on Amazon's video streaming library, making it a significant force in the segment and increasing competition for Netflix Inc. (NFLX) and Apple (AAPL). At the same time, it will help Amazon to expand its footprint in the growing streaming market at a much faster rate.
Amazon is one of the major players in an extremely fast-growing market. In the third quarter of 2014, Amazon’s revenues of $20.58 billion were up 6.4% sequentially and 20.4% from the year-ago quarter. Both product and service sales grew in double digits from the year-ago quarter, with the percentage contribution of the two categories at 78% and 22%, respectively.
Currently, Amazon carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock from the same sector is Mercadolibre, Inc. (MELI), sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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