As part of Amazon’s wide-ranging cost cuts, CEO Andy Jassy is looking into the company’s Hollywood studio, Bloomberg reported. It has one of the highest content budgets in the streaming industry but falls short in drawing the biggest audiences, Nielsen data shows. Jassy recently asked executives for budget analyses on Amazon’s most expensive productions, Bloomberg reported.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Amazon increased hiring to meet demand and doubled its headcount to 1.61 million. Now, the CEO is making cuts to keep with slowed demand and prepare for a potential recession. This year alone, Amazon has cut 27,000 workers. Since last year, it has slashed 37 projects, including a telehealth service, textbook rental program and online file-storage service. It also paused construction for its second headquarters and slowed the expansion of its warehouses.
Last year, Amazon spent $16.6 billion on content, which includes all licensing and production costs associated with the company’s television, film and music business. In 2021, Amazon spent $13 billion in that category. Of that $16.6 billion, $7 billion went towards original programs, live sports deals and third party licensing—up from $5 billion the year prior.
Only Netflix and Disney spent more on streaming content, but for the past three years, Netflix and Disney+ have dominated Nielsen’s most-watched charts, both on its weekly and annual lists. In 2022, Netflix took 13 of the 15 top spots for most-watched original content by minutes viewed. Disney+ stood out on the 2022 films list, with 10 of 15 top spots. Some Amazon originals have crept onto lists in the past, but the viewership might not be enough to justify the company’s content budget.
Amazon’s 2022 spending is led by its NFL Thursday Night Football deal and Rings of Power costs. Amazon is paying $1 billion annually for Thursday Night Football through 2033. The rights and first season for Rings of Power, the Lord of the Rings prequel, cost $715 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. Amazon is planning a total of five seasons, which could make it the most expensive series in history. It is unclear if the series can deliver returns for Amazon. Only 37 percent of viewers who started watching the series finished it, according to Forbes. Netflix’s Squid Game had an 83 percent completion rate, Forbes reported. Amazon Studios head Vernon Sanders said the show has been a “tremendous success” in an interview with Collider, adding that it has brought the most new subscribers of any Amazon original.
Other Amazon originals have failed to draw big audiences. Its much anticipated Daisy Jones & the Six cost $140 million to make but didn’t meet the company’s internal expectations for viewership, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Citadel, a spy series that reportedly cost $300 million, missed making Nielsen’s most-watched lists in the weeks following its release. A science fiction drama series called The Peripheral cost $175 million but wasn’t a break-out hit either, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Amazon is producing a second season.
Amazon’s biggest hits
While Amazon originals might not live at the top of Nielsen’s charts, the company has produced a string of highly watched and well-reviewed shows. The Boys, a series based on a comic book about superheroes who work for a corrupt corporation, earned the 11th spot on Nielsen’s 2022 top original streaming programs list. Viewers watched 10.6 billion minutes of the show last year. Amazon’s the Rings of Power was the 15th most watched original streaming series last year, with 9.4 billion minutes watched, Nielsen reported. It was also one of the most expensive shows of 2022, costing the equivalent of 5.14 million annual Prime subscriptions, the Wall Street Journal reported. No other Prime original has made Nielsen’s annual list in the past three years.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel received 66 Emmy nominations and 20 winning awards in its five-year run. The series follows a female comic starting her career in 1950s New York. While the show didn’t make Nielsen’s annual list last year, it has showed up on Nielsen’s weekly rankings. From May 29 to June 4, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was the fifth most watched original streaming program, earning 499 million minutes watched. That same week, Amazon’s Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets garnered 380 million viewing minutes. The documentary series goes behind the scenes of the Duggar household, a family which gained stardom for its reality series 19 Kids and Counting running from 2008 to 2015.
In the week leading up to Christmas 2022, Amazon’s Jack Ryan dominated Nielsen’s streaming list. Its third season uploaded on December 21, and the show earned the No. 1 spot for original streaming programs that week with 1.9 billion minutes watched. Starring John Krasinski, the action series follows a CIA analyst who becomes a field agent.
Jake Szymanski’s Jury Duty—which appears on Freevee, the free streaming service owned by Amazon—has received glowing reviews across the media industry. The documentary-style comedy series looks at the American court system through the eyes of its jurors. It stars one juror, Ronald Gladden, who believes he is participating in a real-life trial. All other characters are actors, including James Marsden playing an egocentric version of himself. The show premiered on April 7, and Emmy nominations have not yet been publicized for the upcoming year. Amazon submit the show for comedy awards, according to Variety.
