Back before it was spending $1 billion on “Lord of the Rings,” Amazon Studios had a very unique way of choosing which series they brought to the streaming service. Unlike Netflix and Hulu, who would order full seasons of shows at a time, Amazon employed a more traditional way of doing things…with a twist.
As is the same with TV networks, Amazon would order a pilot for a series to help them decide whether or not they wanted to order a complete season. However, instead of deciding in-house, as the networks do, the streaming service allowed viewers to vote on which series would get full season orders. This unique method produced hits like “Man in the High Castle,” “Transparent,” and “Mozart in the Jungle.”
But now, with the streaming wars in full effect, Amazon is changing the way they order TV series and the first major change is completely abandoning the pilot program.
Speaking at the recent TCA event, Amazon execs Albert Cheng and Jennifer Salke commented on this change and why the studio decided to go in a different direction. And it’s not the reason you may be thinking.
“I’d never say ‘never’ but that version is not something we’re doing,” said Salke (via EW), regarding the pilot program. “We’ll use our own testing barometers and some user data but the public voting process has been set aside for now.”
“One of the things we learned is it took too long to get shows customers wanted,” Cheng said. “You end up taking way too long to get the actual season done.”
Cheng’s response is the most illuminating, possibly. He mentions that the traditional way of ordering pilots before a full season works for networks but not Amazon. When you give viewers the chance to watch one episode, but the full season takes months more to produce, fans could lose interest and forget about the series altogether. Networks, on the other hand, keep the pilots in-house and don’t reveal the episodes until a bulk have been produced.
So, the grand experiment that set Amazon apart from the pack is now over. But hey, we got a live-action “Tick” TV series to show for it! And that’s…something.