Armed with a strong line-up of original content, Amazon India’s video streaming platform Amazon Prime Videos said it will roll out three more original series by the end of this calendar year.
The move comes as its first locally produced series Inside Edge has found a favourable audience both within the country and outside.
“We are looking to create content which can also be taken to the global market. We are looking at rolling out at least three more original series by the end of this year. Original content will be a key differentiator for us,” Nitesh Kripalani, Director and Country Head, Amazon Video India, told BusinessLine.
Amazon Prime was launched in December last year, when the company had indicated it will be rolling out close to 18 original series.
The OTT arm of the e-commerce giant has also partnered with 40-50 content creators and production houses to enhance its offerings. The partnerships include production houses such as Phantom Films (Stardust), Excel Media & Entertainment, Big Synergy (Vishpuri) and AIB.
Amazon had signed content deals with Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, Mukesh Bhatt’s Vishesh Films, and Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series for their entire existing and upcoming films.
Speaking about Inside Edge, Kripalani said the series has the highest completion rate of any show on Amazon Prime Video. It is available in 240 countries.
Original content is a strategy that Amazon follows in the global market too. It has series such as Hitoshi Matsumoto for Japan, You are wanted in Germany and The Man in the High Castle in the US.
Kripalani said the company is evaluating regional content. “India is many countries within a country. Stories are different region wise and we need to see what works in India. We are looking at regional market but the current focus largely is on the Hindi and English content.”
On whether the Amazon Prime Video will be adding sports as a genre, he said even though it has introduced NFL’s ThursdayNight Football in the US market, it is still evaluating sports as a genre here.