Jeff Bezos, founder of e-commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), has requested that his team begin working on premium content like “Game of Thrones” for Amazon’s streaming service. After ending plans to continue with the second season of period drama “Z: The Beginning of Everything” Amazon has now greenlit 5 new projects. Three comedies, a comic book adaptation, and a period drama will be added to the slate in the coming years.
One of these series is “Tong Wars”, set in late nineteenth century San Francisco and aiming to show a broad sweeping look at the history of Chinese immigration to the United States.
On September 8 Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) also announced that it may spend up to $1 billion on original shows in 2018. This is the same amount earmarked by Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in 2018 demonstrating the commitment from these rising tech giants to compete with content providers like HBO and Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX).
The news is setting up an incredibly interesting 2018 which will no doubt add interesting new content but also a shifting environment for already-existing content creators. For decades HBO has found itself unparalleled as a creator of television dramas but with the emergence of Netflix and these other providers the landscape could change quickly.
The shift will also be felt in Hollywood in the wake of the worst box office in several decades experienced this summer. Intensifying competition from streaming services could bring many studios to the brink.
