Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season one has had a “halo effect” on the streamer’s other tentpoles such as The Boys and Wheel of Time, according to Studios boss Jennifer Salke.
Salke talked up the most expensive show of all time’s impact on Amazon Prime Video’s shows, which kept audiences on the platform for longer.
“We have a great collection both locally and globally with the likes of Wheel of Time and The Boys and were able to see a halo effect on engagement with [the impact] of Lord of the Rings and lots of other content,” she said.
Lord of the Rings was dropped weekly on a Friday over the past two months and ended four days ago.
Salke rejected the notion that there was overwhelming pressure on the show to perform due to its multi-hundred-million dollar price tag.
“There was not a lot of anxiety,” she added. “Of course the story has to be great and you have to love these characters. If this show had fallen short of what audiences require then it would have felt like a disappointment but it didn’t. You need ambition, scope and confidence to deliver on that.”
Salke talked up Amazon’s local content strategy and pointed to upcoming Russo Brothers/Patrick Moran series Citadel, which is having local spin-offs made in Italy, India, Spain and Mexico.
Speaking alongside Salke, Head of International Originals James Farrell pointed to Nigeria as a major growth opportunity. The streamer recently unveiled its first originals in the African nation.
