Amazon is moving to double its programme budget for the second half of 2016, while tripling the number of original shows available on its Instant Video streaming service.
The move was announced by CFO Brian Olsavsky as part of the company’s Q2 report, which delivered its fifth consecutive quarter of profit growth.
“We are nearly doubling our content spend in the second half of this year versus the second half of 2015,” Olsavsky said.
“We have a great slate of new Amazon originals coming out later this year, both in the US and internationally. And we’re nearly tripling our number of new Amazon Original shows – TV shows and movies – compared with the second half of last year.”
The streaming service is also launching throughout India, announced Olsavsky, stating, “We’ll be having video soon in India – local content and also Amazon originals.”
Company-wide, Q2 revenue was up 31 per cent to $30.4 billion. Net profit was $857 million – the company’s largest ever for a single quarter.
