Few Finished Amazon’s Rings of Power, Priciest Show Ever Made

Last year was extremely expensive Lord of the Rings show on Amazon, Rings of Power, had a lot of hype. Yet after Amazon spent over $450 million on the lavish production, a report claims that less than half of viewers who watched the first episode finished the entire series.

Amazon Prime, like virtually every other streaming service in 2023, is desperately trying to convince millions to watch the expensive content it continues to release. As competition in the streaming market increases, more content floods services, costs rise, and subscription prices follow, it becomes increasingly difficult to get people to subscribe. register or watch anything. And a new report reveals that only 37% of viewers who watched an Amazon episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power…the most expensive series of all time– stuck to watch the rest. It’s bad. But even worse when you realize that Amazon’s desired minimum stat for a show of this size is closer to 50%.

A report published on April 3 by The Hollywood Reporter makes it clear that Amazon Prime’s TV and movie studio is a giant, expensive mess. The report claims that Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke isn’t shy about making big deals with big names in an effort to build Amazon’s talent pool. But many of those shows fail to deliver, like the $140 million Daisy Jones and the six series. Although it plotted well, insiders told HR it wasn’t the “shock hit” they wanted and that its high price tag compared poorly to cheaper shows from Amazon and Apple. others who have done better. Meanwhile, the report claims Salke is chasing trends and Amazon is hungry for more “hits” like Jack Reacher.

“They don’t learn from their mistakes,” said a source, a showrunner who has worked with the company. “[Amazon Studios execs go], ‘We can’t do transactions like this anymore.’ You turn around and they’re back – the rude term is “star-fucking”.

Amazon relies too heavily on data, which frustrates creators

Another nasty story from the report claims that Amazon Studios relies too heavily on data and focus groups, leading to productions that focus on women or contain LGBTQ themes that are shelved. An example cited in the report is A League of Their Own, which struggled to get a season two and when it did, only lasted four episodes.

“This whole perpetuation of white men with guns – it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy,” an Amazon Studios vet said. Another added: “Relying on the data is overwhelming… There’s never, ‘I know the tests weren’t that good, but I believe it.'”

Amazon

But as Amazon productions underperform, shows like HBO’s The Last of Us has seen its viewership increase with each episode. And Netflix still dominates the streaming charts, with The Hollywood Reporter pointing out that 2022 Nielsen data showed all of the top 10 shows came from Netflix. The Boys, an adult superhero show on Amazon Prime, came in at #11. And the most expensive series ever made, Amazon’s answer to Game of Thrones? Number 15.

The report further claims that people who have worked or currently work at Amazon Studios describe it as a confusing and frustrating place to work. A lot of that sounds eerily similar to what was reported by Bloomberg in 2021 about the mess that is Amazon Game Studios, with details like executives making big deals, spending tons of money on big names or big bets, ignoring people who know better, then cutting costs when emissions fail or don’t explode right away.

While Amazon has a few shows and games that have now done well, it seems the company is burn a lot of money to stay short against industry leaders like Valve, Netflix, Disney and Epic. But who knows, maybe another $30 billion will help!