Amazon is setting itself up to be the Lee Harvey Oswald to YouTube’s John F. Kennedy. The multi-hyphenate online retailer is developing original series to play on its Prime platform and already Geico has bought in.
The car insurance company is sponsoring a series of pilot episodes to see how popular short-form original content can be on a streaming channel normally reserved for terrible television shows and B movies.
While Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service, the pilot episodes will be free (as long as you watch the Geico ads beforehand), and if it isn’t enough for them to attack YouTube with original content, Amazon is also going straight Machiavellian on the site. They’re trying to poach some of YouTube’s bigger acts for their own purpose. Reports haven’t clarified who exactly has been contacted, but you know who you are, readers.
If nothing else, Amazon’s plunge into the video market will make the playing surface a little more even keel for creators hopefully.
Here’s more industry news … use it wisely:
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