All about PBS's "masterpiece" and Amazon's ever-closer relationship (2023)

it was right in the middlework of art'Sfall 2017 schedule. Was sandwiched between the return of soap opera swashbucklerpoldarkand 2 season ofThe Durrells in Corfu. At first glance, there was nothing "off".PBSAdd toThe collectionfor your downfallwork of artrelay a message. It's a glamorous drama with an international cast that focuses on a scandal-ridden Parisian fashion house in the years following World War II. Makes sense likework of artSeries.

ButThe collectionwas alreadyan amazon series. The internationally produced series hit the States this spring and has been streaming on Prime Video ever since.

SeThe collectiondebut inwork of artAt 10 pm on October 8, it will quietly mark a new era in Amazon's relationship with the prestige drama showcase. Amazon makes no secret of the fact that it wants to be the home of streaming for as many people as possible.work of artpossible series. In recent years, the internet giant has reachedso many SVOD rights to Masterpiece titleshow they could - and they already offer ita curated "masterpiece" Amazon channelThis gives subscribers access to 31 additional titles that are not (yet) available to Prime subscribers. But what PBS andwork of artto participateThe collection ANDdifferent. that waswork of artofficial statement from:

The collectionbegan as an Amazon Studios UK/Lookout Point production. Thenwork of artat PBS came on board as co-producer for the show's US launch.

PBS has a longstanding relationship with Amazon for the distribution ofwork of artTitle,The collectionit's the firstwork of artCo-produced with Amazon Studios and Lookout Point.work of artis always looking for new ways to offer our viewers quality programming; We take the opportunity to produce togetherThe collectionbecause drama, setting, romance and beautiful costumes make the series perfect for the serieswork of artPublic.

The bottom line is thatwork of artAmazon's relationship with Amazon only deepens. Amazon no longer builds its own Prime Video librarywork of artTitle;work of artgets its own programming content from Amazon. although this is trueThe collectioncould be the first and last co-production between Amazon Studios andwork of art, the deal itself blurring the lines between an already tight streaming relationship. It's a relationship that says a lot about the history of streaming thus far and what may be to come when it comes to the increasingly blurred lines between streaming and traditional television.

Amazon's Not So Surprising Announcement for PBS

work of artIts reputation as a home to historical drama often speaks to its pioneering spirit. It started likemaster theaterIn 1971 it was one of the first American television spots dedicated to presenting the best of foreign entertainment - in this case British.master theaterThe most popular productions ranged from epic historical dramas such as1, Claudius(a show that would pave the way for people likeROM, and as an extension,To War Two Thrones), to contemporary dramas like the originalhouse of cards, to unusual and innovative thrillers likeprime suspect. All of these shows helped set the stage for the kind of entertainment that swept streaming platforms in the early 2010s: addictive political soap operas, decadent murder mysteries and foreign dramas.

in the last decade,master theaterevolved to reflect changing times. It has been renamed to just "work of art“ 2008 and 2010 a new zeitgeist hit:Downton Abbey. In 2012, it was reported that season 2 ofDownton Abbeywas not just a hit for PBS, but aflowblow.Reuters reportedthat the season two premiere drew an average of 5.4 million traditional viewers. The same season received around 4.8 million views on PBS's digital platform, a rating that was 400% higher than Season 1's digital views.Downton Abbey-The related content accounted for over 9 million streams across all platforms between the season 2 premiere on January 8, 2012 and February 23, 2012. That said, it was a massive digital hitSo why.

Digital streaming platforms are notoriously stingy when it comes to releasing reviews, but if you want to get an idea of ​​how exponentially PBS's digital streaming business has grown, you can compare these 2012 numbers with the ones the company itself released in 2015. At that time,PBS internal blogaddressed viewers' concerns with its free online offerings. In the post, PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler revealed that PBS streamed over 300 million free online videos to 16 million monthly viewers every month. And that's not counting how many people streamed PBS content.OthersStreaming services.

Amazon launched its own online streaming service in 2006, but in 2011restarted the servicelike Amazon Instant Video. The new version's service included a bonus for Prime subscribers called Prime Instant Video. The former was an easy-to-use digital marketplace for buying and renting videos on demand, and the latter has been hailed as a direct response to Netflix, Hulu Plus, and other booming streaming services. Back then, Amazon offered several thousand movie and TV titles with its “Prime Instant Video” service. It's hard to know exactly what those titles were back then (since Decider didn't exist yet), thoughMashable has a reportwhich repeatedly singles out PBS as one of the biggest sources of this "free" content.

Amazon wasn't the only streaming service after PBS andwork of artlibrary of.Early 2014, Netflix struck a deal to be the home of streamingMysterious cousin workblowSherlock. At the time, Netflix also owned the rights to several other popular British series, includingDoctor who(which was also available on Hulu). In recent years, however, Amazon has been shrewdly trying to divert as much of PBS's UK television empire as possible. In February 2013, a solid year after PBS first reported thisDownton AbbeyThe second season was a streaming hit for her,amazon protectedthe exclusive streaming rights to the entire series.As mentioned above, they struck a deal in 2015 for future SVOD rightswork of artTitle and 2016The information was released by PBSthat Amazon would be the exclusive streaming partner of PBS Kids (which is not exclusively "British" nor under thework of artumbrella, but it's still notable). Also in early 2016?Amazon has secured the exclusive streaming rightsForDoctor who, snapping up the rights to the wildly popular show from rivals Netflix and Hulu.

So is Amazon essentially the “PBS platform” now? Not so fast. There's still a hiccup, and PBS's own streaming service.

Amazons Masterpiece Channel vs. PBS Passport

With platforms, channels, studios and production companies fighting over the streaming rights to thousands of popular titles, the world of streaming is often compared to the Wild West. my colleaguewhite boardjokingly refers to the time we are in now as the "Great Land Takeover" for SVOD rights. While Amazon managed to claim a large majority of the popularitywork of artTitles for its Prime subscribers have slipped through the cracks of many favorites.

To fill these gaps in its own Prime library, Amazon offers a "Masterpiece Channel". For $5.99 per month, users can add this option to their existing Prime membership for access to morework of artfavorites. The channel features older classics likethe crown jewelEParque mansfield, but more importantly, it gives users access to the latest seasons ofwork of artfeatured shows. For example,GrantchesterSeason 3 only released on PBS a few weeks ago, so it won't be available for free to Prime members for a while. But Masterpiece Channel subscribers can now stream it with the Amazon Channel add-on. The Masterpiece Channel currently offers users 31 titles to stream.

It's a good deal, but PBS has its own. PBS' easy streaming platform is free to use (and hosts more than a handful of Viking River Cruise commercials). They typically offer free streaming of the network's latest titles for a few weeks to months after they go live. PBS also offers its own subscription service for viewers who want unlimited access to new and popular programs.

Among the Passport offerings?Downton Abbey, Sherlock, The Great British Baking Show, Victoria,Grantchester, as well as a variety of documentaries and cultural programs. Passport currently offers 40 titles (by my count), but not all of them are exclusive.work of art. They are all representative of the most popular PBS shows of recent years. At $5 a month (or $60 annually), it's arguably a better deal financially. Additionally, PBS considers Passport to be part of its donor perks. You know how PBS merged deposit payments with CDs, tote bags and concert tickets? This also comes with the passport.

PBS is far from the only network to have its own custom streaming service alongside SVOD deals with other streaming services. However, PBS is the only major network that relies on government subsidies and contributions from viewers like you to survive. Oh, and corporate donations too.

what is it?work of art‘Future with Amazon?

circle back toThe collection, now that Masterpiece is co-producing projects with Amazon Studios, the relationship between the two entities seems more confusing than ever. Amazon did not respond to our requests for comment prior to publication, but these agreements suggest that Amazon plans to work increasingly closely with thework of artteam in the coming years. Last year,HBO took over the rights to another PBS account,Vila Sesame. The acquisition was made almost explicitly to improve HBO's children's programming.Digitalplatforms. Could there be a future wherework of artIs the main underwriter of the companies none other than Amazon?

Some romantics may regret this turn of events, but would forgetmaster theaterit mostly started with a healthy loan from Exxon. Corporate donations have long kept public broadcasting efforts alive, and in a political landscape where federal funding for PBS is up in the air, things may be getting comfortable with a business behemoth like Amazon.work of artown form of "Buchanism".

Ironically, Amazon may see a closer relationshipwork of arteven more beneficial thanwork of artit could. When I logged onto the Amazon Video homepage yesterday, PBS andwork of artTitles accounted for nearly half of the featured titles promoted. title likeVictory,the purple field,Make an effort,poldark,Grantchester, EA tunnelwere featured prominently alongside Amazon's own originals and the best that HBO and Starz had to offer. At theInstantWatcher, an unofficial feed of popular user picks, PBS titles make up the bulk of the hottest shows on Prime Video. Amazon customers seem to do thisreally likePBS programming, so maybe Amazon has more to gain from a dealwork of art.

However, this is all conjecture. After all, this is the "great land grab" of SVOD rights. Just because Amazon Masterpiece appears to be courting strong doesn't mean another investor won't step in to claim the crown jewels of PBS programming. Until then,work of artFans have multiple options to stream their favorite glorious shows and features. Time will tell how long these options last.

Stream the collection on Prime Video

Stream Victoria on Prime Video