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The daring to move Triumph operation to the universe of streaming It is a bit of Amazon Prime Video with a Spanish flavor, of which it is already preparing a new installment. Also in Spanish, it is his latest major fiction release, Red Queen, a bet that has resonated so strongly (it has been among the 10 most viewed titles on Prime Video in more than 120 countries, including the US, the United Kingdom, Germany, India and Australia) that the platform officially confirms what the most imagined: it will also have a second season. In a note sent a few weeks ago with the most viewed films and series in Spanish last year, one piece of information stood out: the three most viewed Spanish titles of 2023 (the films My fault, Awareness and the series The Farads) received an average of 80% of their views from outside Spain.
For Farrell, one of the differences between Spanish productions is their focus on the characters over the story. “In most places, when they tell you about a possible new project for a movie or a series, it’s usually ‘it’s about this war’ or ‘it’s set in this period of history’ or ‘it’s about a kidnapping’… But here, even today, they have told us an idea and it was about a war, but it was not about the war as a whole, but about a specific general,” the manager gives as an example. “Maybe this focus on who the characters are is what makes it appealing versus what they do elsewhere, where they focus more on the plot.”
Another avenue that Prime Video is exploiting in Spain is collaboration and co-productions, such as the agreements it has with Mediaset and TVE. “There is so much content in the world, not only on platforms and television, but also on TikTok, YouTube, cinema, social networks… If we can find good partners for a film, someone to release it in theaters, and then move to Prime Video, and then it goes to free television… If you can find strong partners to make joint strength, as opposed to content that is only for Prime Video, which is also fine, it is exclusive, but it is really difficult to send that message many times in a year . If you can find good partners who can complement you on free-to-air television and in theaters, it is a great way to get your stories to reach larger audiences, and if someone wants to see it in the cinema, they can do so, or on television.”
One of the mantras that Prime Video managers repeat is that their platform is not in the quantity business, but in the quality business. “In these years, and in these last months, it has been seen that we like ambition and risk,” says María José Rodríguez, head of original content at Prime Video Spain and Portugal, who cites OT as an example. “We are lucky to be part of Amazon, because if we were a television network or a service only for streaming, we would need a lot of content. In a channel, you need to fill 24 hours a day, and a service only of streaming It needs, I don’t know, 10 releases a month. We do not have the pressure to do a lot of production volume and we can focus on 10-12 things a year in Spain,” reflects Farrell.
Outside of fiction, Prime Video feels that with Triumph operation has opened a path unexplored until now by the platforms. “I don’t think they understand the real risk that was OTFarrell emphasizes: “Amazon has experience in live sports, but no platform has had this success with the launch of a music competition/reality/talk show live. I’m sure other platforms have been watching closely. “It may be one of the things that changes the way people think about what is possible on platforms.”
“We have opened a new path, and you perceive it in how the public has picked up OT and it has included in its regular consumption something that came from regular open consumption,” adds Rodríguez. Will Prime Video continue exploring traditional television formats? “Why not?” He answers before finishing: “We have to have an open mind, we don’t have to look at the space where it is broadcast, but rather at what the consumer is looking for. We are here to entertain and enjoy. Most of us come from traditional television, and it is a very clear example of formats and projects and stories that the public likes. We have left entertainment as more linear television projects, but let us remember that fiction also began there and now we assume directly within the services of streaming”.
When the platform war is over, we asked Prime Video managers about the place their service occupies. “The business evolves every year and we learn new things. For example, OT Maybe a year ago we weren’t even thinking about it. Every year you reevaluate your strategy with what works and what doesn’t. Generally speaking, what we’re looking for hasn’t changed that much, we’re very happy with how we’re doing. But we will continue to pivot. A couple of years ago perhaps we were more focused on middle-aged audiences. Now the great reception of My fault o The summer I fell in love It has made us see that perhaps our audience is a little younger and perhaps we can do more of that. Strategies adapt, but we are very happy with where we are,” concludes Farrell.
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