Amazon job listing suggests company could soon launch live video shows

Eli Blumenthal, Special for USA TODAY | USA TODAY

NEW YORK-- Could Amazon be looking to expand into daily, live video shows? That appears to be the case, according to a job listing from the Internet retailer.

The posting on Amazon.com and one on LinkedIn.com advertised for an experienced television producer who could help run the new initiative, cast as a way to entice customers to shop more on Amazon, particularly video-loving millennials.

"Amazon is forming a new business initiative to leverage video as a medium to drive product sales on Amazon," read the listing. "We are looking for a seasoned television producer to help us produce and run a daily live show."

Both postings were removed Tuesday as USA TODAY contacted Amazon for comment. One was still listed on the job-search site SimplyHired.com. Amazon did not respond.

The first market the company is targeting is fashion, with the job's location listed as Brooklyn, NY. In 2012 Amazon began leasing a 40,000 square-foot space in the borough. It's primarily served as a photo studio for the retailer's various fashion brands, including Amazon Fashion, Shopbop and MyHabit.

According to the job listing, the producer will be in charge of approving scripts, pitching segments, as well as "promoting interaction" between hosts and audiences through social media. He or she will also be in charge of booking celebrity guests for in-studio segments, marking a potential differentiator from some of the other online fashion-focused shows that are popular on Google's YouTube.

"This seems like an initiative designed to improve Amazon's core retail business, not another Prime Video offering, though the channel will almost certainly show up there, too," says Avi Greengart, research director at Current Analysis. "Video demonstrations are proven to increase sales, which is why infomercials, online product video overviews, and shopping channels like QVC exist. The only surprising thing about Amazon creating a shopping channel is that it took this long for them to do it."

Amazon's job listing also makes it clear that they are targeting younger shoppers with this new platform. While not required, it prefers prospective candidates to have a passion for fashion, be avid users of social media and be "up to date with trends appealing to millennials."

"This particular show would be a starting point to see if they (millennials) will bite," says Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies. "If so they will produce more targeted at this group."

The listing describes the new group as a "strategic initiative" with "strong support and buy-in from top management," suggesting that there is some high expectations for the project.

While live video would be a new direction for Amazon, the company does have plenty of experience in on-demand video production. The online giant has been producing its own content for its Prime Instant Video offering since 2013 as part of its Amazon Studios division. In January the company won two Golden Globes for the show Transparent, starring Jeffrey Tambor.

It is unclear if the possible live shows would require a subscription to the company's Prime service, which costs $99 a year. "It could be used to help them drive demand for Prime subscribers," says Bajarin. "Even if the target is millienials and a younger group, it uses them to try and get their parents to use Prime."

Follow Eli Blumenthal on Twitter @eliblumenthal