Prime Video spotlights true crime, comedy and sports in Canadian upfront debut
Prime Video unveiled a host of programming at its first Canadian upfront
George Pimentel
Prime Video unveiled a host of sports, true-crime, comedy and drama programming at its first-ever Canadian upfront on Thursday, as tech giant Amazon makes major moves to grab a piece of the local video advertising market.
The Canadian outpost of Prime Video ordered two-part true-crime docuseries Romcon: Who the F**k is Jason Porter?, about a convicted criminal with a history of romantic deception.
Set to premiere globally on Prime Video on June 13, the series is produced by Blink49 Studios for Amazon MGM Studios. Blink49’s Allison Brough and Toby Dormer are executive producers, with Henry Roosevelt directing.
Comedy docuseries Trailer Trash, about two brothers who have transformed their startup business reclaiming and selling RV parts, also received a greenlight, with production set to begin in Alberta soon. The project comes from Amazon MGM Studios in partnership with Lionsgate Canada, with Jacob Tierney (Letterkenny, Shoresy) executive producing.
The streamer has also renewed its ice hockey docuseries, Faceoff: Inside the NHL, for a six-part second season. Produced by UK-based Box to Box Films and NHL Productions, the series follows some of the National Hockey League’s biggest names including, William Nylander, Seth Jarvis, Sean Monahan and Brady Tkachuk. The new season is set to debut in the fall.
Other titles teased for advertisers included Karaoké Club, produced by Montreal-based Attraction and based on the UK format that sees celebrities participating in karaoke; Simple Plan: The Kids in the Crowd (Sphere Media), about the formation and rise of the Canadian rock band; season four of LOL: Qui Rira Le Dernier?; and Vitrerie Joyal, a scripted series starring Martin Matte, who plays a character inspired by his entrepreneur father.
The latter series is coproduced by Encore Télévision and Matte for Amazon MGM Studios and is set to launch in 2026.
Live sports, which forms a key part of Amazon’s global strategy, was also a focal point of the presentation, in which execs talked up Prime Video as the streamer where “content and commerce are converging.”
In Canada, Prime Video holds the rights to Prime Monday Night Hockey, which streams all national regular season Monday night NHL games in English, and NHL Coast to Coast, the Thursday-night roundup show.
The presentation also highlighted upcoming Prime Video international originals including Fallout season two; Spider-Noir; Christmas movie Oh. What. Fun; The Terminal List: Dark Wolf; The Boys season five, which is currently shooting in Toronto; and a Ryan Reynolds-produced documentary about Canadian comedy icon John Candy.
Since it moved all Prime Video members by default to the ad tier in early 2024, Amazon has been gaining ground in the Canadian video advertising market. But Thursday’s upfront represents a clear desire to significantly expand its share of the local market.
Amazon did hold a smaller event for Canadian advertisers last year, but this marked the first occasion that it held a large-scale upfronts presentation, with hundreds of advertisers and marketers in attendance. The Canadian presentation comes one year after Amazon made its debut at the May advertising Upfronts in New York.
