Jen Salke’s Exit Won’t Fix Amazon’s Prime Video Problem

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In July 2018, Jen Salke, who had only been in charge of Amazon Studios for five months, sat on a stage in Beverly Hills answering questions from a crowd of reporters during the semi-annual TV Critics Association press tour. For approximately 30 minutes, she shared her thoughts on various topics such as the developing “Lord of the Rings” series and a new “global television franchise” she had acquired from the Russo brothers. During this question and answer session, I seized the opportunity to inquire about something other than these topics: the less-than-ideal user interface of Prime Video, and more specifically, if any plans for improvement were underway.

To my somewhat unexpected delight, Salke not only concurred with my critique (“I shared your viewpoint as well,” she stated), but disclosed that modifications were already in motion. On a recent tour of Amazon HQ in Seattle, she had been presented with an upgraded Prime Video layout, which she described as “more user-friendly” and likely to enhance the overall experience for users significantly. Salke couldn’t provide an exact timeline for when subscribers would witness this improved interface, but assured it was on its way, promising a prompt rollout.

It transpired that the “soon” mentioned referred to a span of four complete years: The highly anticipated user interface update by Prime Video was finally unveiled in July 2022, which was longer than initially expected.

Recently, Amazon Studios’ head, Salke, ended her seven-year tenure unexpectedly by moving to a production deal within the company. The reason for her departure has sparked debate, with many suggesting it was due to her management of Amazon’s film business, including the Bond franchise, or the belief that Amazon’s substantial investments in TV shows haven’t resulted in enough groundbreaking hits for Prime. However, what struck me when I learned about her dismissal was a reminder of the challenging user interface issues that Prime faced back in 2018.

It appears that Salke’s departure from Amazon Studios wasn’t due to her role in managing the product and engineering teams for Prime Video, despite its significance. However, the prolonged delay in addressing a crucial issue for such an extended period (even beyond a U.S. presidential term) suggests profound issues within the streaming industry that Salke was navigating. Unlike other platforms grappling with user interface problems, Amazon is financially abundant and has spent decades catering to online consumers. As a self-proclaimed customer-centric tech company, it should not have been difficult for them to improve the user experience and showcase the series and movies produced by Salke’s teams effectively. Given Amazon’s resources and engineering prowess, they could have developed a seamless and intuitive user interface similar to Netflix’s if they had chosen to do so.

It’s clear that users who have navigated through the congested digital shelves of the Prime Video app can attest to the fact that things didn’t go as expected, even after the 2022 redesign and subsequent adjustments. Surprisingly, Amazon’s original content often appears more like a secondary player on this platform instead of the headliner. My hypothesis as to why the app continues to be disorganized, given Amazon’s vast resources: It seems that the team at Amazon HQ in Seattle intentionally prefers it this way.

Despite the substantial amount of funding Jen Salke has been granted for content creation, the Prime Video interface appears to have remained anchored to its initial purpose, which was primarily to serve as a marketplace for digital versions of other studios’ content. Original series and films are indeed significant, but they don’t hold the same central role in Prime as they do on Netflix or Max.

As a devoted cinephile, I must confess that when I open up my Amazon Prime app these days, it’s not uncommon to find myself presented not with a tantalizing sneak peek of an exciting new Amazon Studios production, but rather an enticing offer to subscribe to Paramount+ or rent the latest Sony film, or even tune into some questionable FAST channel. Granted, the overall user interface has improved since the 2022 redesign, and Prime Originals do get some attention. However, they seem more like supporting characters rather than the main event.

This arrangement undeniably benefits Amazon financially – they earn a significant commission when you subscribe to Max or Acorn TV via Prime, or rent a new release through their app. Yet, it seems counterproductive for fostering loyalty towards your own streaming service. It also makes it challenging for projects spearheaded by Salke and her team to garner attention.

Moreover, this situation underscores that our efforts were always competing with the priorities of other sectors within the Amazon and Prime Video ecosystem.

Prime Video’s Identity Crisis

It’s important to note that this analysis is not meant as an overall defense for Salke’s tenure. She, like any executive in the creative field, had her share of weaknesses, notably on the feature film side of her career. For instance, Salke was recruited from NBC seven years ago due to her reputation as a talent-friendly exec who could handle the egos of Hollywood’s writers, actors, and producers. However, according to reports from Deadline’s Mike Fleming and Puck’s Matt Belloni, she seemed less capable in managing movie talent, especially those responsible for the James Bond franchise, and generally found it challenging to make movies successful for Amazon. This seems to be a common struggle for TV executives who transition to film roles, such as Brandon Tartikoff and Gail Berman. Furthermore, sources speaking with The Ankler’s Lesley Goldberg this week have expressed concerns about Salke and her team, including day-to-day TV chief Vernon Sanders, taking an excessive amount of time to develop and greenlight projects, and often appearing unsure of what they wanted from creators.

The Rings of Power, points to deeper issues within Amazon regarding the identity of Prime Video and who ultimately guides the brand’s direction.

One of Salke’s initial challenges upon joining Amazon was determining how to adapt The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) for a TV series. This problem arose due to a single factor: Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, had an idea one morning – he wanted Prime Video to have its own equivalent of Game of Thrones. He acquired the rights to a property that had already been extensively used in films, overpaid for them, and then delegated the task of making it successful to Salke and Sanders. However, even with this directive, Salke had to juggle various corporate priorities (and perhaps egos) when it came time to launch the show.

When HBO revealed that its highly-awaited spinoff, “House of the Dragon,” would launch on August 21, 2022, Amazon persisted with its decision, announced a year in advance, to debut “Rings of Power” just 14 days later, on September 1. This timing essentially guaranteed that “Rings of Power” would struggle for viewer attention, as while “Lord of the Rings” is well-known, “Game of Thrones” is the fresher, more popular series. A wiser choice would have been to delay the release of “Rings of Power” by a few months. However, this might suggest that Amazon wasn’t completely confident in its own production, and it could have disrupted the strategic connections Amazon aimed to create between the show and the debut of “Thursday Night Football” on Prime. Consequently, the launch date remained unchanged, giving rise to a narrative that “Rings of Power” is underwhelming.

Salke, the head of Amazon Studios, had a significant amount of power and some impact on how Prime Video operated. However, her role didn’t come with the same clear-cut authority that Dana Walden has over Disney+, ABC, and Hulu. Walden has substantial influence when it comes to both content and platform decisions, while at Amazon, this isn’t always the case.

Amazon might not be as focused on creating a successful standalone streaming platform as it is on finding content that boosts its advertising sales and product movement across various e-commerce channels. This model isn’t necessarily inferior; YouTube has proven that you don’t need to follow the Netflix, HBO, or CBS blueprint to build a highly successful video service.

However, this approach may not align well with Salke’s background in Hollywood, where she was taught about brand identity and passionate audiences. In the end, her departure might have been due to her decreasing effectiveness in meeting Amazon’s business needs, as compared to Mike Hopkins, the chief of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios.

Despite some disagreements, I’d contend that Salke’s seven-year term was more victorious than defeats – and simply enduring in a firm as tough as Amazon (or indeed, any high-level Hollywood studio) is an achievement in itself. Throughout her leadership, she played a significant role in transforming Prime from a minor player producing a few overlooked HBO Lite productions into a consistent supplier of moderately popular Content. This should be seen as a commendation. In 2025, Amazon, a company that’s risen to the level of essential utilities like water or electricity providers, no longer needs to focus on winning the quality TV race. So while Salke did attempt some Emmy-worthy shows and perhaps overspent in doing so, generally speaking, she introduced a network-TV mindset to Prime, expanding upon the foundation laid by her predecessors (she didn’t greenlight The Boys) to make it the go-to platform for father-friendly TV such as Reacher, Cross, and Fallout. Given Amazon’s investment in the NFL, that’s a promising niche to occupy.

Salke managed to improve Amazon Studios significantly since she joined, as it was previously criticized for various issues. For instance, before her appointment by Bezos, an article in The Wall Street Journal titled “Where Amazon is Failing to Dominate: Hollywood” highlighted problems such as a lack of global hits on Prime, dwindling Emmy awards for prestige dramas, and internal dissatisfaction about the division’s standing. Even notable producer David E. Kelley, who worked on Billy Bob Thornton’s Goliath for the streamer, publicly expressed concerns about Amazon Studios’ talent relations, referring to it as a “gong show.” It seems that Salke has successfully turned things around in her tenure at Amazon Studios.

It’s evident that Salke’s leadership didn’t fully restore Amazon’s standing in Hollywood, as evidenced by criticisms over the Bond situation and comments made in Goldberg’s article. Prime Video is not typically the destination creators aspire to work with. However, Salke managed to attract many stars to the platform, and more people are consuming its content now than they were in 2018, both domestically and internationally. Although it hasn’t yet come close to ruling Hollywood like Netflix, Prime Video is holding its own against Disney in their competition for the second spot. Despite these achievements, they weren’t enough to satisfy Amazon’s demanding nature, which is why, seven years after the press conference in Beverly Hills, Salke has transitioned from being the head of Amazon Studios to a producer within the company.

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2025-04-04 22:54