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CW’s ‘Amazon’ Pilot Redeveloped With New Writer, Net Eyes ‘The 100′ & ‘Carrie Diaries’ For Limited Run, Mulls Return To Comedy

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday May 16, 2013 @ 11:15am PDTTags: Amazon, Aron Eli Coleite, the CW
Nellie Andreeva

She may rise again. The Wonder Woman origin drama Amazon is in active redevelopment at the CW. The project was originally written by Allan Heinberg last season. Despite doing some preliminary casting on the lead while the script was still being written, the network ultimately didn’t give it a pilot order, instead rolling it to off-season. A new writer, Heroes alum Aron Eli Coleite, was brought in. Now “we’re waiting for the script to come in,” CW president Mark Pedowitz said following the network’s upfront presentation today. “We do not want to produce something that doesn’t work for that character. It is the trickiest of DC  characters to get done.” If the network likes the script, the project will be ordered as an off-cycle pilot. As for The Selection, it is “unlikely” the property will be re-visited again after two failed pilots, the second of which came close to a series pickup, CW brass said.

Related: CW New Series First Looks: Video READ MORE »

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LoveFilm To Stream ‘Vikings’ In UK & Germany

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Friday May 10, 2013 @ 7:10am PDTTags: Amazon, Lovefilm, Vikings

In the company’s first such deal, Amazon-owned LoveFilm has acquired exclusive streaming rights to History‘s Vikings for the UK and Germany. The Netflix rival will make all nine episodes of the hit … Read More »

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Amazon Touts Media Deals As Q1 Earnings Fall

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday April 25, 2013 @ 1:48pm PDTTags: Amazon, Jeff Bezos

The numbers are mixed but encouraging enough to lift Amazon shares about 1.4% in after-market trading. The e-retailer generated $82M in net income, -36.9% vs the period last year, on revenues of $16.1B, +21.9%. Analysts expected revenues to … Read More »

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‘House Of Cards’ Heads To Home Video On June 11

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday April 2, 2013 @ 12:36pm PDTTags: Amazon, House of Cards, Netflix

Distributor Sony Pictures Home Entertainment isn’t talking yet. But the basic story is right there on Amazon: It’s taking pre-orders for the first season of the 13-episode series produced by Media Rights Capital and starring Kevin Spacey that … Read More »

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‘The Good Wife’ Off-Network Rights Sell To Amazon, Hulu, Hallmark Channel, Broadcast Syndication For Nearly $2M An Episode

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday March 13, 2013 @ 8:33am PDTTags: Amazon, Big Deals TV, Hallmark Channel, Hulu, The Good Wife
Nellie Andreeva

In an arrangement that reflects the changing off-network options for serialized dramas, CBS’ The Good Wife has been sold in a complex multi-window deal that involves two streaming partners, Amazon and Hulu; a basic cable network, Hallmark Channel; and broadcast syndication, for what I hear is a combined license fee of nearly $2 million per episode. “This is an off-network model for a unique serialized show in today’s television ecosystem,” said Leslie Moonves, President and CEO, CBS Corp.

Under the deal, the first three seasons of The Good Wife will become available on Amazon Prime tomorrow, with the current Season 4 coming later this year. Hulu Plus will roll out previous seasons of the show in September 2013, while Hallmark Channel will begin airing The Good Wife in January 2014. A weekend broadcast syndication run is scheduled to begin in September 2014, with the series sold in 85% of the country, including the CBS O&Os, in a barter deal. Read More »

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Amazon Licenses Streaming Rights For Scripps Networks Shows

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday February 28, 2013 @ 7:27am PSTTags: Amazon, Amazon Prime, Big Deals TV, Scripps Networks Interactive

SEATTLE–Feb. 28, 2013– (NASDAQ: AMZN) – Amazon.com, Inc. today announced a content licensing agreement with Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (NYSE: SNI) that will make Prime Instant Video a subscription home to hundreds of episodes from past seasons of hit TV shows from the Scripps family of brands: HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel and Travel Channel.

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CBS Expands Content Deal With Amazon

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday February 13, 2013 @ 6:46am PSTTags: Amazon, CBS
Nellie Andreeva

On the heels of CBS closing a deal with Amazon for summer series Under The Dome, whose episodes will be available on the streaming service four days after their premiere, the two companies today announced … Read More »

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Amazon & CBS Ink ‘Under The Dome’ Deal; Episodes To Stream 4 Days After Premiere

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday February 11, 2013 @ 6:42am PSTTags: Amazon, Big Deals TV, CBS, Under the Dome
Nellie Andreeva

The pact was built into CBS‘ decision to greenlight the serialized drama from Steven Spielberg and Stephen King based on King’s novel for next summer. It establishes an in-season, online subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) window for the show on Amazon’s Prime Instant Video service, which will become the exclusive online subscription home for Under The Dome.

Amazon Prime members will have unlimited streaming of all the series’ episodes four days after their initial broadcast on CBS. The unusual deal helps CBS offset the cost and was key for picking up an elaborate serialized drama for the off-season. There had been speculation that Under The Dome would be made available on Amazon after 24 episodes had aired. But Scott Koondel, Chief Corporate Content Licensing Officer for CBS Corp., explains the rationale behind the window’s length. “With this innovative agreement, we’re giving fans more options to watch and stay current with this serialized series, and doing so in a way that protects the Television Network’s C3 advertising window,” he said. Read More »

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Amazon Studios Zeroes In On ‘Betas’ Comedy Pilot Produced By Michael London

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday February 1, 2013 @ 2:12pm PSTTags: Amazon, Betas
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Studios continues to ramp up its original slate. I hear the original movie and series production arm of Amazon.com is finalizing a deal for a pilot order to comedy Betas, produced by feature producer Michael London (Sideways) via Groundswell Prods. The company also has been hammering out a license fee deal with Sony Pictures TV for Zombieland, a comedy pilot based on the 2009 movie, which is already actively casting. They would join the six comedy pilots Amazon Studios announced in December, which are in various stages of production and have attracted talent of the caliber of John Goodman and Bebe Neuwirth. The company yesterday gave the green light for five children’s pilots. Read More »

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John Goodman To Star In Amazon Comedy Pilot ‘Alpha House’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday January 31, 2013 @ 4:12pm PSTTags: Alpha House, Amazon, John Goodman
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: John Goodman is set to star in Alpha House, one of Amazon Studios’ first six original comedy pilots. Written by Oscar nominee and Pulitzer-Prize winner Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury), Alpha House follows four senators who live together in a rented house in Washington DC. Goodman will play North Carolina Senator Gil John Biggs, a large man with large appetites. His cranky sense of entitlement comes from years of being revered as a successful basketball coach, but when the Duke basketball coach decides to run against him, he finds his Senate seat in jeopardy. Amazon has been going for a mix of big TV names and up-and-coming young talent for its comedy pilots. Frasier and Cheers alumna Bebe Neuwirth was recently cast in Browsers. Since a story about Democratic politicians Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, George Miller and Bill Delahunt sharing a rented house gained popularity several years ago, there have been several attempts to use the setup for a TV show. In 2010, ABC ordered a pilot for Greg Malins’ comedy Freshmen, executive produced by Arianna Huffington, which revolved around three newly-elected members of Congress who share a house together.

Related: Amazon Studios Greenlights Five Children’s Pilots Read More »

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Amazon Shares Volatile After Q4 Results Miss Expectations

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday January 29, 2013 @ 1:03pm PSTTags: Amazon, Amazon Earnings

The stock fell at least 4% in after hours trading moments after the e-retail giant announced its results — but have rebounded to +6.7%. The company generated net income of $97M in the quarter, down 45% vs the same … Read More »

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Wonder Woman CW Drama ‘Amazon’ Rolled

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday January 28, 2013 @ 12:31pm PSTTags: Amazon, the CW, Wonder Woman
Nellie Andreeva

Wonder Woman Pilot CWEXCLUSIVE: The CW just wrapped its pilot orders for this season with eight pickups, including planted The Vampire Diaries spinoff The Originals. Amazon was not among them, and I have learned that the network has decided to roll the Wonder Woman origin project to next season. Additionally, I hear the CW may order an off-cycle pilot, so Amazon may go into production sooner if the network is happy with the final script.

Related: CW Greenlights ‘Tomorrow People’ & ‘Blink’ As Pilots

Amazon was the first project this development cycle to begin preliminary casting back in November when Warner Bros TV started exploring choices for the lead, Diana, while the script by Allan Heinberg was still being written. “We’re waiting to see the script and are busy casting Diana,” the CW president Mark Pedowitz said at TCA earlier this month. In the end, I hear the CW brass felt the project needed more time. Read More »

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Amazon In Negotiations For ‘Zombieland’ Series

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday January 24, 2013 @ 12:29pm PSTTags: Amazon, Sony Pictures TV, Zombieland
Nellie Andreeva

Zombieland TV Series AmazonI’ve learned that Amazon is in negotiations with Sony Pictures TV for a half-hour comedy series based on the hit 2009 feature horror comedy Zombieland. I hear the project is eying a … Read More »

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Amazon Buys Speech Software Company

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday January 24, 2013 @ 7:31am PSTTags: Amazon, Kindle Fire

This could allay some doubts as to whether Amazon has the stomach to keep competing in the tablet wars vs Apple’s iPad and a growing fleet of products powered by Google’s Android operating system. The e-retailer says today that … Read More »

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Amazon Fires On Apple By Offering Music For iPhone And iPod Touch

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday January 17, 2013 @ 9:38am PSTTags: Amazon, Apple, iPhone, iTunes

Apple dominates digital music sales, with nearly 70% of the market, while Amazon is far behind at about 12%, NPD Group reported last year. So it’s easy to see why Amazon is so eager to pry consumers from … Read More »

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CW, Warner Bros Explore Casting Lead In Wonder Woman Origin Project – Meet Diana

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday November 29, 2012 @ 6:30pm PSTTags: Amazon, Big Deals TV, the CW, Wonder Woman
Nellie Andreeva

UPDATE: No reason for panic, Wonder Woman fans. While the warrior princess character is listed on the breakdown as Iris, not Diana, I’ve confirmed that, as writer Allan Heinberg hinted on Twitter after I posted the story, that is just a code name the producers used to avoid attention. So much for that…

PREVIOUS: To all actresses in their early to mid-20s who are 5’8″ or taller — you may be TV’s next Wonder Woman. I’ve learned that Warner Bros TV, the studio behind the CW drama project Amazon, has hired casting directors Barbara Fiorentino and Danielle Aufiero to launch a search for the lead in the project in anticipation of a potential pilot pickup. A breakdown for the role has been released, providing a glimpse into the Tarzan-like fish-out-of-water premise and the central character of the Wonder Woman origin story written by Allan Heinberg that chronicles the female superhero’s life as a young Amazonian, before she becomes a warrior princess with super powers. Read More »

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Barnes & Noble Shares Slip After Reporting Mixed Results In Fiscal Q2

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday November 29, 2012 @ 6:48am PSTTags: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Nook

Barnes & NobleThe stock is down about 6.5% in early trading following the leading bookstore chain’s earnings report that left open questions about whether it can keep up with online rivals led by Amazon that continue to take market share. Helped by $2.8M in dividends received from preferred shares, Barnes & Noble reported net income of $2.2M for the quarter ending in October — up from a $6.6M loss a year ago — on revenues of $1.88B, -0.4%. The revenue figure is slightly lower than the $1.91B that analysts expected. But excluding the dividend, the net loss attributable to B&N of 4 cents a share beat the Street’s forecast of a 6 cent loss. At the retail unit, which includes the bookstores and book sales at BN.com, revenues fell 2.9% to $996M. The company says that last year’s numbers were helped after Borders liquidated. But in stores open at least a year, sales (not including its NOOK eReaders and tablets) were up 1.8%. In college textbooks B&N revenues were up 0.4% to $773M. Meanwhile the NOOK operation — which includes the hardware as well as digital content — remains a mixed story: Revenues were up 5.6% to $160.3M but it still generates a cash flow loss as B&N invests in new products and overseas expansion. The company says that NOOK unit sales doubled in last week’s four day Black Friday period vs last year — which matches Amazon’s experience with its Kindles. Read More »

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Amazon Pilots Supernatural Toon Comedy

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday November 19, 2012 @ 7:26am PSTTags: Amazon, Amazon Studios, Big Deals TV
Nellie Andreeva

Amazon is ramping up its efforts to get an original series on its streaming service. I hear Amazon Studios, the content development division of the online retailer, has greenlighted animated comedy pilot Supa Natural. The move comes on the heels of the company also giving a pilot order to Browsers, a live-action single-camera comedy from writer David Javerbaum and 3 Arts Entertainment. Supa Natural, produced by Underground Films, centers on two outspoken divas who happened to be humanity’s only line of defense against the supernatural… just so long as they’re not busy shopping at the mall. Lily Sparks, Price Peterson and Ryan Sandoval wrote the script and executive produce with Underground’s Trevor Engelson and Josh McGuire as well as Kristen Schaal (The Daily Show) and Jason Micallef. Read More »

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Netflix’s Reed Hastings Says Amazon Is Losing $500M to $1B A Year On Streaming

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday November 16, 2012 @ 4:13pm PSTTags: Amazon, Netflix, Reed Hastings

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says “Amazon is the best competitor we’ve ever faced” — but he estimates his retail rival is losing between $500 million and $1 billion a year on its streaming content, according to a report … Read More »

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