But the quote from CEO Jeff Bezos in the earnings release has nothing to do with his numbers. Instead, he used it to plug Amazon Originals, the new set of 14 TV pilots that Amazon has produced. The company will use viewer feedback to decide which of them get commissioned for a full series.
Bezos said his opinion of the pilots won't matter but he does have one:
“Amazon Studios is working on a new way to greenlight TV shows. The pilots are out in the open where everyone can have a say,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “I have my personal picks and so do members of the Amazon Studios team, but the exciting thing about our approach is that our opinions don’t matter. Our customers will determine what goes into full-season production."
In case you missed that: "I have my personal picks ...[but] our opinions don't matter." Hmm.
Which of the 14 shows might be Bezos' favorite?
Let's use a process of elimination. We can, presumably, ignore the six kids' shows (although Bezos has four children so that's not a certainty).
That leaves the eight comedies for adults. They include:
- Alpha House (about politics)
- Browsers (the news business)
- Onion News Empire (via the Onion)
- Supanatural (cartoon about two urban females with attitude)
- Those Who Can't (about immature teachers)
- Zombieland (zombies)
- Dark Minions (cartoon about a galactic overlord and his army)
None of those scream "Jeff Bezos' picks." But then there's this:
- Betas (about " Four friends think they've cracked the code for Silicon Valley success.")
Which of those do you think Bezos most relates to?
Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.