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Amazon puts pilot episodes of 10 of its original shows on Facebook and YouTube

By Parker Hall Published August 16, 2016

In an effort to expand the popularity of its original series lineup, Amazon has put the pilot episodes of 10 self-produced shows on the company’s YouTube page, and will post them to it’s Facebook page shortly.

The company has plans to put five episodes of adult programming and five of children’s programming on the popular streaming video services in an effort to bolster the number of Amazon Prime subscribers by hooking them with each show’s first installment.

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Shows aimed at grown-ups whose pilot episodes have been made free include Bosch, The Man In The High Castle, Transparent, Mozart in the Jungle, and Red Oaks, while kids can get excited about Annedroids, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, Just Add Magic, Tumble Leaf, and Wishenpoof!.

The quality of Amazon’s self-produced original series is typically very high, and making these shows public is a smart move to gain higher subscriber counts. Original series are now a key part of growing any video streaming service, but getting viewers to latch on initially is the hardest part.

Viral shows like Netflix’s Stranger Things and Daredevil have been garnering massive views for Amazon’s rival, and the Seattle-based retailer is looking to get more eyes on its own original content.

Amazon’s episodes on YouTube and Facebook should reach a massive number of their social media subscribers. The company currently has more than 26 million likes on Facebook, and 33 million subscribers on its YouTube channel.

A stand-alone subscription to Amazon Prime Video currently costs users $8.99 per month, though fans of the company can also subscribe to Amazon Prime — which includes perks like free two-day shipping through the internet retailer — for $99 per year. Those who want two-day shipping and Amazon Prime Video on a month-to-month basis (rather than paying for an annual commitment) can pay $10.99 per month.

Former Senior Writer, Home Theater/Music

Parker Hall is a writer and musician from Portland, OR. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin…

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Amazon Prime Video’s latest trick is natural lip-sync for dubbed audio

At last, translated audio will look natural on the actors' faces. And yeah, AI is involved.

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I have watched plenty of stuff on streaming platforms where the translated audio doesn't feel natural on the faces of the actors appearing on the screen. It just looks odd and takes away the fun from watching dubbed films and TV shows. I would prefer to watch content with the original audio and see the translated captions, rather than deal with the asynchrony between the audio and facial expressions. Amazon finally has a solution.

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TVs have become incredibly smart over the years. They can automatically tweak picture quality, adjust sound for your room, and recommend what you should watch next. Yet once you bolt one to the wall, there’s one decidedly old-fashioned thing about it: it’s staying exactly where you put it.

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