Deadline: Prime Video, Amazon Studios Layoffs To Affect “Several Hundred” Workers, SVP Mike Hopkins Tells Staff

Story from Deadline:

Prime Video and Amazon Studios will see layoffs affecting several hundred workers, according to an internal memo this morning from SVP Mike Hopkins.

In Hopkins’ memo, provided to Deadline by Amazon (read it below), he alludes to a review of the company’s business operations across all of its divisions. As a result of that process, he writes, “we’ve identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas while increasing our investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact.”

Amazon’s $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM closed in 2022.

The parent company laid off about 25,000 workers a year ago, reversing a dramatic increase in staff borne of the onset of Covid in 2020, which caused a boom in demand for Amazon e-commerce deliveries. Amazon Studios and Prime Video last spring let go of 100 of their roughly 7,000 employees.

Operationally, Prime Video has made strides in live sports, kicking off a long-term exclusive deal for NFL Thursday Night Football last year and posting a 24% increase in viewership in its sophomore season. The telecasts draw significant ad dollars, and Prime Video is rolling out advertising more broadly starting this month, with ads appearing in scripted programming for the first time. Subscribers looking to avoid ads will need to pay $3 a month on top of their standard Prime subscription fee.

Amazon Studios has released broad-appeal films like Eddie Murphy starrer Candy Cane Lane and also gave a wide-release theatrical commitment to the Ben Affleck-directed Air. On the series front, it has scored with the likes of Reacher and The Boys, while ultra-pricey bets like The Lord of the Rings and Citadel have had more subdued runs. Free, ad-supported outlet Freevee had a breakthrough last year with Jury Duty and has a roster of other originals.