Following on from my previous post The next age of Television? Arrested Development Season 4 it has been announced that Amazon intends to release some TV ‘pilot’ series exclusively using its Amazon Prime and LoveFilm Video-on-Demand platforms.

Most notably, they announced a 12-episode TV series spin-off of the hit 2009 film ‘Zombieland‘  from original writer Paul Wernick and director Eli Craig(known for ‘Tucker and Dale vs Evil’) with a fresh cast; none of the film’s cast are currently expected to reprise their roles in the TV series.

Interestingly, it is believed Amazon have opted to release the series gradually; as opposed to the NetFlix approach of releasing the entire series at once. Exclusive and specially commissioned content for Video-On-Demand appears to be getting more competitive as more service providers and content makers are getting involved.

We may soon see sites such as NetFlix and LoveFilm competing for the Exclusive premiere rights for popular shows from networks such as ABC (either via the networks or with the programme makers directly); they are already commisioning their own content so this is a logical next step.

Television is clearly not dead as a medium, but it is set to go through a transitional phase; particularly in terms of delivery & business models. The change should prove to be lucrative for all involved; but will we see things turn full-circle with Free/Low-cost Video-On-Demand services offering streaming content with advertising?