• NEWS
    • Agencies
    • Brand Marketing
    • Creativity
    • Digital
    • Programmatic
    • TV / Video
    • FEATURED
    • Challenger Brands
    • Inside the Brand
    • Ad of the Day
    • CES
    • Sponsored
  • EVENTS
    • FEATURED
      • Elevate AI 2019
      • March 21, 2019
        New York
    • COMING SOON
    • Adweek Media All-Stars
    • Fastest-Growing Agencies
    • View All Events
  • WEBINARS
    • FEATURED
      • The Front Line of Customer Experience
      • Tue, Feb 19, 2019
        1 PM EST
    • COMING SOON
    • CMO Tenure Data Is the Secret to Agency Business Development
    • The Definitive Approach to Advanced Media Measurement
    • View All Webinars
  • CONNECT
    • Media Kit
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Agency Memberships
    • Group Subscriptions
    • Newsletters
    • Contact Us
    • ADVERTISE WITH US
    • Brand Awareness
    • Thought Leadership
    • Lead Generation
    • ADWEEK NETWORK
    • AgencySpy
    • MarketerMoves​
    • Social Pro Daily​
    • TVNewser
    • TVSpy
  • ADWEEK JOBS
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • CURRENT OFFER
    • Unlimited Job Postings
My Account Log Out Sign In Subscribe

Streaming & OTT

Amazon Studios New Chief Says Prime Video’s User Interface is About to Get a Big Upgrade

Jennifer Salke shares her new strategy for the streaming service

By Jason Lynch
|
July 28, 2018
Jennifer Salke, formerly NBC Entertainment president, landed the Amazon Studios job in February.
Getty Images
Share
By Jason Lynch
|
July 28, 2018
Share

After five months as the new head of Amazon Studios, Jennifer Salke unveiled her strategy for the streaming service—and promised that Prime Video’s often-frustrating user interface is about to get a major upgrade.

Unlike competitors like Netflix, which are trying to pump out as much content as possible, “you won’t see some giant volume play,” Salke said today at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour in Los Angeles. “We want to reach a lot of people, but we don’t want to compromise on quality.”

Salke added, “I think of us as an alternative to some of those places,” referring to Netflix.

Under her leadership, Amazon is looking for creative partners “that share our ambition for creating groundbreaking, original content that our consumers love to binge,” said Salke, who was previously NBC Entertainment before landing the Amazon job in February. “We’re going to build a more curated group of talented creators and artists who can be part of our family.”

Added co-head of television Vernon Sanders, “our intention…is for this to be a global home for talent.”

While Salke made several announcements about new and returning shows, one of the biggest pieces of news out of her exec session was that Amazon is in the process of improving the user interface for Prime Video, which the exec admitted has been frustrating for her and the talent she works with.

During a visit to Amazon’s Seattle headquarters, Salke got an early look at a prototype of the upcoming interface, which she now has on a phone in her office. “Please come see me and I’ll show you how cool it is!” she said of the UI, which will arrive sooner rather than later.

Salke is just as enthused about Amazon’s upcoming slate as the UI upgrade. “There’s so much to be excited about,” she said, adding, as she discussed her new projects, “I hope I don’t say ‘excited’ too much!”

Amazon has closed a deal with writers JD Payne and Patrick McKay—who wrote the next Star Trek film—to develop the streamer’s big Lord of the Rings TV project. In November, prior to Salke’s arrival, Amazon landed TV rights to the project for a reported $250 million—a figure that could reach a whopping $1 billion with production costs.

Next up is “a big development process as they build out this world,” said Salke of Payne and McKay.

She announced three series pickups: The Expatriates, based on the Janice Y.K. Lee novel and coming from Nicole Kidman’s production company. Lena Waithe is executive producing Them, a program Salke called a “socially relevant” horror anthology series. And The Office’s Greg Daniels has created Upload, a sci-fi romantic comedy.

Amazon has also renewed its drama Sneaky Pete for a third season, which begins shooting this week. It also recently picked up The Expanse, which had been canceled by Syfy, in part to show that Amazon cares about what its subscribers want. “Our customers are obsessed with this show and they let us know,” Salke said.

In November, Amazon will air the psychological thriller Homecoming, starring Julia Roberts and directed by Mr. Robot’s Sam Esmail, which Salke called “addictive.”

Salke said Amazon will announce more details about the upcoming fifth season of Transparent—star Jeffrey Tambor won’t return to the show following sexual harassment allegations—within the next week or two.

“We know exactly what it is creatively,” said Salke. “We’re going to give the Transparent fans the closure that they and we long for.”

Salke’s optimistic, insightful and inclusive session felt like a complete 180-degree turn from previous sessions under former Amazon chief Roy Price, whose enigmatic TCA visits often frustrated reporters (for starters, he never seemed to understand why some people were upset that the company was in business with Woody Allen.)

Price stepped down in October following sexual harassment allegations from a producer on Man in the High Castle.

Now that Salke has taken over, she’s doing away with the public process in which Amazon used to have its customers vote on potential pilots. Co-head of television Albert Cheng noted that because of how lengthy TV production is, it took too long—sometimes more than a year—for customers to be able to watch full season of pilots they liked.

Share
https://adweek.it/2ApAaRI
Jason Lynch

Jason Lynch

@jasonlynch
Jason Lynch is Adweek's TV/Media Editor, overseeing trends, technology, personalities and programming across broadcast, cable and streaming video. Formerly TV Editor for People magazine, he has been covering the TV and movie industries for two decades.
Adweek Adweek Adweek

Popular Now

  • 1
    The 25 Best Ads of 2018
  • 2
    H. Jon Benjamin, the Voice of Archer and Bob’s Burgers, Is Now Also the Face of Arby’s
  • 3
    10 Royalty-Free Music Sites Every Online Video Creator Should Know
  • 4
    Ogilvy Announces Another Restructuring in the Latest Phase of Its ‘Next Chapter’
  • 5
    This Ad Captures the One Thing Every Millennial’s Dad Does

Featured Jobs

Account Manager
Mammoth Advertising
new york, New York
WCCB Charlotte – Full Time Producer
WCCB-TV
Charlotte, North Carolina
Anchor/Producer/Multi-Media Journalist
WENY TV
Horseheads, New York
Editorial Director
UCLA
LOS ANGELES, California
Advertising Inventory Analyst
DraftKings
Boston, Massachusetts
See More Jobs

EDITOR'S PICKS

Leadership & Talent

How the Lee Clow Talent Tree Spreads Far and Wide in Advertising and Creativity

by Doug Zanger

Leadership & Talent

Ogilvy Announces Another Restructuring in the Latest Phase of Its 'Next Chapter'

by Patrick Coffee

AdFreak

Thanks to Ancestry, Six Strangers Learn How They're Connected Via the Underground Railroad

by Shannon Miller

Brand Marketing

Nascar Hopes Marketing a New Generation of Drivers Can Lure Fans Back to the Sport

by Jameson Fleming

Streaming & OTT

NBA Superstars Are Here to Remind You That Hulu Has Live Sports Available for Streaming

by Sara Jerde

Agencies

Volkswagen Names Johannes Leonardo Lead Creative Agency in the U.S.

by Patrick Coffee

AdFreak

BMW Creates a Folk Hero for the Modern Age: the Unstoppable, Mysterious Ol' McLanden

by Amy Corr

AdFreak

This Ad Captures the One Thing Every Millennial's Dad Does

by David Griner
View Latest News >
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Media Kit
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Sponsor Content
    • Jobs
  • Subscriptions
    • Subscription Options
    • Digital App
    • Newsletters
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Customer Service
  • Awards / Honors / Events
    • Awards and Honors
    • Adweek Events
    • Webinars
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Trophies / Awards / Seals
  • Publications
    • Adweek Network
    • RSS
    • Backissues
    • Reprints / E-Prints
  • © 2019 Adweek, LLC. - All Rights Reserved
  • About Adweek
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy