Amazon May Not Release Pilots for Viewer Feedback Anymore
Amazon has undergone significant changes in recent months with regard to its TV department. Not only is the company aiming for broader, Lord of the Rings-size hits under a new studio head, but Amazon may drop its signature pilot process of letting viewers pick new series.
Even as a number of high-profile Amazon projects have been ordered straight-to-series in recent years, others like The Tick, Jean-Claude Van Johnson and this week’s Marvelous Mrs. Maisel were still released to subscribers ahead of a series order. Amazon maintains that viewer feedback shapes which series graduate to full orders, but Deadline now reports the company has considered abandoning the process:
I hear there is discussion about not putting the pilots up on Prime Video, with a call on a series pickup made by Amazon executives the way other networks do it — based on testing and research. No final decision has been made, but I hear that ending Amazon’s traditional pilot season is a real possibility.
Most recently, that pilot season produced comedian Bridget Everett’s new dramedy Love You More, Glenn Close zombie comedy Sea Oak and Diarra Kilpatrick comedy The Climb. Former Amazon Studios boss Roy Price also noted prior to his resignation that a competitive TV environment had already diminished their ability to wait for the audience pilot process.
A number of Amazon series such as Jack Ryan, Carnival Row and Lord of the Rings have already bypassed the pilot process, but will pursuit of a major hit drastically overhaul the network’s interaction with viewers?
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