Amazon Prime Video has been active in developing new co-productions recently. Notable among these efforts is the upcoming horror anthology series "Them: The Scare," which will be a co-production of Sony Pictures Television and Amazon Studios. This new season of the series, set in Los Angeles in the 1990s, features Pam Grier and Deborah Ayorinde and continues the tradition of blending horror with social commentary (ComingSoon).
Additionally, Amazon Prime Video is co-producing "The Terminal List," a new drama series starring Chris Pratt. This series, a co-production with Civic Center Media in association with MRC Television, follows the story of a Navy SEAL uncovering dark forces after a mission goes wrong (Entertainment Tonight).
Maly said linear networks are often concerned about partnering with streamers on projects that could launch or end up on another platform after hefty financial commitments on their part. However, he claimed, “That is not the case, at least for the very limited amount of data we have, which has shown a very different a curve on our end… [The productions] also worked for the linear broadcaster.”
Maly pointed to Amazon data in Spain, where the streamer works with Mediaset – “we are basically the de-facto catch-up service for Mediaset,” he said. He also mentioned projects in France such as Escort Boys, which launched on Prime before hitting free-to-air on TF1.
Streamers can fully fund, of course, and Amazon does not want to share the cost or upside of shows it counts as “brand defining” such as its current mega-hit Maxton Hall. The sticking point with partnerships between traditional broadcasters and streamers is often around the linear players’ own catch-up and streaming services, Maly said, adding that the models for Amazon include the broadcaster airing the first season of a program free-to-air just before the streamer airs a second or subsequent season.