Amazon Prime Video Boss in Hot Water After Failing to Meet Expectations With Rings of Power and Daisy Jones & the Six

The world of streaming has found itself in a golden age over the past decade or so, with no indication of the industry’s hype dying down any time soon. Cord-cutters have allowed platforms to flourish, with every studio in Hollywood launching its own service in some shape, way, or form. Even tech giants have gotten in on the craze, with Amazon launching Prime Video and a massive push with film and television content.

When it comes to Amazon Studios, however, it would seem as if not everything were golden after all. In an extensive new piece from The Hollywood Reporter,  it’s said Jennifer Salke—the head of the Amazon-owned studio that releases most if not all of its projects through Prime—is in hot water after some recent flops.

The biggest crash for the studio comes in the form of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, one of the most expensive television shows ever created. In the report, the show reportedly lost the vast majority of its audience by the time its last episode aired; insiders suggested just 37-percent of those who watched the premiere episode finished the series. Judging by internal metrics reportedly used by Amazon, a 50-percent completion rate is “solid but not spectacular,” meaning The Rings of Power failed to reach an average level.

Still, Salke herself went on record explaining why the series worked. “This desire to paint the show as anything less than a success — it’s not reflective of any conversation I’m having internally,” she told the trade. “That’s a huge opportunity for us. The first season required a lot of setting up.”

Judging by Nielsen ratings, the most-watched Amazon project of 2022 was the latest season of The Boys, which finished in 11th place in the analyst’s rankings of original streaming series. The Rings of Power, on the other hand, fell to 15th.

That’s reportedly just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Amazon’s woes as additional executives internally seemingly lack direction and goals of what type of content they should be looking at ordering.

“I have never been one to say [to the creative community] ‘We need five action franchise shows and three workplace situation comedies.’ That’s the kiss of death,” Salke added. “You don’t reverse-engineer true creative vision. We are programming for over 250 million households across the entire globe. We would say we have a big, broad audience, and we are looking for content that entertains the four quadrants.” 

Barring any major mishaps, the creators of The Rings of Power have planned out five seasons for the show, the second, of which, is now shooting principal photography.