Amazon CEO DEMANDS Answers as Prime Video FAILS

[@disparutoo]

After Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Citadel and The Wheel of Time Amazon wondering where the money was going was only a matter of time. The issue is Amazon being a product company has very different corporate cultures and employees than the rest of Hollywood. This leads to the CEO asking for budget information, but seemingly not realising why Amazon Prime Video is losing money in the first place. This isn't a case of wasting money or overpaying. The choices of shows at are rotten from the start, a few cost cutting exercises can't save this place. But what do you think? Can Amazon Prime Video be turned profitable without changing the staff? Is it just a few contracts that don't bear fruit that are the problem, or is this a deeper issue at core of the company? Let me know your thoughts down below, and as always, thanks for watching :)

[@gamedude412]

The boob to murder ratio is off.

[@Zeoran]

How many upvotes do you need to acquire a teeth whitening kit?

[@1bridge11]

@@Zeoran You also noticed his teeth. Yikes.

[@AzraealGamer]

Finally something going my way. One car issue after another. Getting ready to work on it and said “ok disparu, where you at?” Turned on KZbin and first video on list is disparu. Thank god, some joy awhile I work on this car.

[@Trygvar13]

Citadel? What is that? Never heard of it.

[@darrylseymour]

"Somebody who doesn't want a Conan series because it appeals to men isn't somebody who can run a profitable entertainment company" Agreed.

[@lanceash]

Oh, how many decades have I longed for a decent, true-to-the-source-material series of films based on Conan. I read the Howard-DeCamp-Carter paperbacks when I was 14 (when Reagan was still in office.) The first (and ONLY the first) film with Arnold was a masterpiece; a masterpiece of casting, of direction, of sets and props, of music (one of the greatest film soundtracks in history), of writing. If they're not going to do Conan as he is presented in the original (and semi-original) stories, then FORGET IT. Wouldn't it be great to see Conan's time on the high seas, sailing with Belit? Wouldn't it be great to see the story "The Pool of the Black Ones" done AS IT WAS WRITTEN? No farting around, no changes, no sanding off the rough edges, no making Conan into Captain America, no funny sidekick, no crap. I want to see Conan kill Numedides on the steps to his throne and put the crown on his own head. But nooooooooooooooooooo

[@frankstallone3864]

Yea that last Conan movie with mamoa did so great

[@lanceash]

@@frankstallone3864 Didn't see it, but it sounded like crap. I remember when Conan the Destroyer came out and being so disappointed. Grace Jones, Wilt Chamberlain, the funny sidekick, the whole thing sucked. The inherent nature of most Conan stories, that he's alone for the most part, is antithetical to Hollywood film-making 101: that you need a cast of characters to interact and speak with each other. Conan works alone for the most part. Also, he's a thief and a rogue whose goals in life are selfish; he's not a shining paragon of virtue to wrap in a flag for children's edification. Why does everything in Hollywood have to be "family friendly?"

[@lanceash]

@twitteriscancer5403 Don't inject your racist horseshit here, friend.

[@earlofdoncaster5018]

Yeah, it's not like women don't like looking brawny men. Oh wait......

[@kentslocum]

When a CEO refuses to admit that a huge part of their business is spending more than it makes, they are in big trouble.

[@hakonsoreide]

Actually, the actual information is considered trade secrets, and you would either not comment, lie, or skew the truth when queried in public. To whatever extent he knows, he would admit to it, but only behind closed doors and not publicly because he might even get fired for revealing such information. Even a CEO, or perhaps especially a CEO, would be subject to an NDA.

[@trevoravery9270]

How are they in trouble ? They get BlkRock money and tax dollars .

[@MandoMTL]

More like they won't point to the truth due to their complicity.

[@luminatrixfanfiction]

@@hakonsoreide I doubt an NDA is going to hold much sway over any CEO, if said CEO has a golden parachute. And this guy likely has one. The only time he won't say a word is if he is afraid of class action lawsuit by angry investors on his case. Kentslocum is right, Amazon is in trouble if they are refusing to admit they are spending more than it makes.

[@maguffintop2596]

Amazon went about 20 years before ever seeing a profit. At one time, Jeff Bezos literally said ‘being in business is now more about losing money than making it.’ That I heard and saw w/ my own two eyes.

[@axebeard6085]

It isn't just the Amazon content that sucks. The Prime Video interface is incredibly frustrating. It seems like it was designed by the same employees who thought it was a good idea to make "sponsored" products ignore search filters.

[@_Tricky_]

And it’s always been painful slow and yet twitchy at the same time. Absolute sh1te. I don’t use it now.

[@techgirl1337]

I came here for this comment. The interface is awful and designed to sell content, not view it.

[@kmhkennedy]

Thank you! I’ve been saying this for forever. The whole Amazon website sucks, if it wasn’t a monopoly it would have failed by now. I tried using Amazon prime once and it was a nightmare so I bailed real fast. Edit: side note I only joined prime for prime tv, in South Africa prime shipping is barely a thing, so….

[@irtnyc]

It was better a couple years ago. Simple and effective. Now the Amazon TV interface (really the whole user experience) is shitty like legacy cable box jank. What happened? Enshittification I guess.

[@DeltaGammaKilo]

Don't even get me started on the fact that it hides a crapload of content from you and makes it nearly impossible to find a full listing of any particular genre.

[@thelonggame9166]

18:29 Actually, I think part of the problem is that Amazon is trying to *tell* the customer what they want, rather than listen to what the customers want.

[@rubix4195]

Amazon are on this sort of "we can make you" mission but they are taking the true measures of a customer willing to invest in their product - monetary gain - because they bizarrely think that you can make anything and customers will buy it. (Probably been using the data from their websites! XD)

[@chronosschiron]

so how would they know if they dont put stuff out and see what's more popular GOT YA

[@thelonggame9166]

@@chronosschiron That's my point: they don't know and they don't really care. This video discussed the market research that Prime Video does. I mean poll the audience. Phone a friend. Anything is better than simply saying "this is what I want to see, so you're gonna watch it as well, without regard to whether you want it, like it, or not".

[@garbearfar1394]

They just need to pump money into Invincible and the boys and shelve everything else until those are wrapped up.

[@eugenia523]

They want us to conform to their vision.

[@Thanatos0519]

"Phoebe is a perfectionist" yeah she wants to make sure she absolutely, completely destroys what she is involved in.

[@victorcode2075]

"She tried her best"

[@coffeemug3009]

She is just a nepo baby with a one hit wonder fleabag.

[@Grivehn]

She's the actress equivalent of KKKennedy. Set out to destroy every franchise the 'male gaze' ever fell upon.

[@MegaSpideyman]

​@@GrivehnWhy is that?

[@darianstarfrog]

​@MegaSpideyman who knows, it's their issue..no?

[@MitchM240]

I have been in leadership at major Silicon Valley tech companies for many years. the largest budget I had discretion over was $2 million for a whole year. I cannot fathom how you can run a company where a single person can make a $160 million decision!! That is nuts!!

[@WilliamKBaker]

I make films for a living. Low budgets under $10,000,000. I am in control of the budget and spending. Pissing away the amount of money that the majors do on a regular basis is laughable to me. I could easily run Amazon Prime and create world class content for 1/2 the cost.

[@SoftmanCZ]

​@@WilliamKBakerAnd they would not even hire you, as you are more competent than them. Somebody could noticed and take their seat and money away...

[@weird-guy]

Because you guys aren’t good at cooking the books 😂😂😂

[@saint.vitus.7775]

It's truly sickening how these people are paid more $$ than 99.99% of us will ever see in our lives - and all they do is fail and fail again.

[@slappy8941]

They do so that on purpose to demoralize us. You will never understand how much they hate us.

[@O1OO1O1]

Capitalism

[@Billabongbabalog]

​@@O1OO1O1That's not capitalism, dickhead.

[@chrism8180]

Authoritarianism, regardless of whatever terminology they choose to cloak it with

[@zarroth]

@@O1OO1O1 heh...you clearly don't know what capitalism is. The central bank can't exist with the authority it currently has in a capitalist configuration. We ceased being that over a century ago. We're much closer to the mercantile monopolies of the 17th century...which are also supposed to be illegal to form, but they are clearly here. Political pressure also crushes competition, another trait that doesn't exist in capitalism. The government isn't supposed to get involved and pick winners, but again, the central bank makes that possible these days. You need to do a little reading, because you don't know anything.

[@PatriceBoivin]

I still think "they had a billion dollars, they could have made a good 2nd Age show true to JRR Tolkien's vision. Instead they chose to squander it on making drivel." It makes me feel sad, such a missed opportunity to do great things. The least they could have done is hire people who read, understand, and care about Tolkien's works. They chose to hire narcissists who only want to tell their own life stories.

[@ohifonlyx33]

I console myself with the knowledge that they also didn't have all the rights they needed to make a good show.

[@saymyname2417]

​@@ohifonlyx33- But with a billion bucks you still could do something nice, especially with the help of Tom Shippey. But they never wanted to.

[@ohifonlyx33]

@@saymyname2417 yeah, agreed. It's just a small reminder that even with Tom Shippey and without Amazon's D.I.E. clause, the writing would be tricky.

[@Apollo890]

And it was pretty much ready made for them. Before he died Christopher Tolkien wrote a blueprint of how a show set in the second age could work and said they should hire Tom Shippey to help with ironing out the script. They pretended to listen but then as soon as he died they threw all that out of the window because they thought they knew better.

[@saymyname2417]

@@ohifonlyx33 - Yes, absolutely. They didn't pick 5he most "documented" era. But I think they chose it so they could do whatever they want to cause as much damage as possible. Which is what they did. To make something good you need good intentions in the first place and I simply doubt that was there... 😩

[@oldschoolcat2110]

Every time Prime advertises a new original show, I think to myself, “Oh look. Something else I have no desire to watch.”

[@samynov]

Reacher, The Boys, Invincible... that's about all that's good on Amazon

[@nunyabidness6961]

As a former entertainment industry laborer who fairly regularly had to do gigs setting up events like corporate parties, but particularly when setting up the venue for the Gary Busey Amazon Prime launch (total nightmare), I can tell you that the culture of the higher ups is to have no plan, thinking that simply throwing money at something is the same thing as having clear goals and a well defined plan, which it most certainly isn't. Every event or setup we ever worked for Amazon ALWAYS devolved into a complete disorganized shitshow that wound up taking two to three times the prearranged amount of labor, budget and time until someone they'd hired had to be the adult and tell them no when they made ridiculous requests to make really major changes right up until the very last moment. At the Gary Busey launch venue, less than an hour before show call and the crew was to leave after an unscheduled 10 hour day that our company had to scramble to fill the roster for because we had to change a bunch of other stuff, due to the fact that some suit had a capricious whim to make it all different, the suits came around for a final tour. Only for them to ask that the 9-foot tall steel scaffolding tower that we had just spent 4 hours building, carefully leveling, then lifting nine 300 lbs projectors onto the top deck of, leveling THEM, then securing them to be safe, stringing power, connecting data cables, testing and carefully aligning their field of projection to the screens which had been set up, etc., be moved three feet to the left. I shit you not. Those people have no grasp of reality, or what they are asking other people to actually do at any given time. I even joked with the rest of the crew at the time that if this was what the organization behind Prime as a streaming service looked like, they were screwed and I would never get it. And here we are. Took them like 10 years to run out of excuses for their incompetent idiocy, but the days of that long ago prophecy of mine have come nigh and I just wanted to shout to no one in particular that I f*****g called it. That's just how dysfunctional and disconnected from reality the culture in that company really is. So bad, that this outcome of a future track record of repeated, abject, hideously expensive failures was obvious even to us day-laborers, before it even launched. Let's just say that they make the people at Microsoft look like thoughtful, organized, down-to-earth kinda folk in comparison.

[@MiniatureMasterClass]

"they make the people at Microsoft look like thoughtful, organized, down-to-earth kinda folk in comparison" LMAO! I know people at Microsoft and that company is run by complete idiots and soccer moms.

[@Deathbybigmac420]

I laughed so hard reading this. I’m a grip, so I work with Laborers all the time. I can totally put myself in your position. I’ve worked for Amazon before and they made us change a huge lighting set once at the end of the day. Also they told us in the morning our equipment was safe to stage in a certain location, only to be told 1 hour before wrap we had to move, basically an entire 10 ton grip truck of equipment to the other stage down the way. It was madness and hbo, Netflix and others aren’t any better.

[@Brian_Boru]

I appreciate you taking the time to type that out. I'm gobsmacked. Goddamn bubble people. Completely untethered from reality.

[@Tyrs_Finox]

Thanks for sharing! Can't say I'm surprised, the Western managerial/bureaucratic elite are hopelessly decadent at this point. That said it at least makes for an entertaining story! Again, thanks for sharing! 😃

[@marcusselig6704]

I feel that so much. Thanks for this

[@jeffmcdonald4225]

When you disdain, or actually hate, your customers...well, why are you confused about losing customers?

[@superomegaprimemk2]

Disney is confused, for sure!!

[@trixareforkids59]

So is Amazon

[@SRMoore1178]

I get the feeling that Amazon wants to create content mainly for female audiences. Maybe that's why some of their shows especially the Rings of Power feel like cheesy soap operas.

[@superomegaprimemk2]

@@SRMoore1178 Likely soap opera level writers, but then ROP had a pair of hacks who had no business in taking on such a IP, put in charge, I would of actually shopped around for a showrunner with a proven track record of sucess!

[@SRMoore1178]

@@superomegaprimemk2 Indeed. Maybe JarJar Abrams "recommended" these two doofs as a joke with heavy sarcasm but Amazon and Sulke didn't pick up on it.

[@mrallenyou]

The main issue I don't watch prime video is because their interface and design sucks. It's not designed to present shows and keep you engaged, rather it is focused on selling you the videos. They need the main shows bring viewers in and a good UI to engage and keep them around to watch other shows, but no, they just turn people off by pushing the sale too much.

[@justanotherhappyhumanist8832]

I just refuse to use Amazon because they are an insanely unethical company, and once charged me £3000 for products that I didn’t order and then refused to refund me because they said that they “didn’t make mistakes”. Then they locked me out of my account, but kept charging me for my audible and prime subscriptions for years after. I had to change bank accounts to get it to stop. And every time I called they claimed that I didn’t have an account. Also I lost access to hundreds of kindle books and audiobooks that I had purchased. I used to use them all the time. I spent tens of thousands with them. I would never use them again after that experience, and after I’ve learned how they treat their employees, I definitely don’t care. I hope the company goes down in flames, and Jeff Bezos loses all his money.

[@Matthewwithers33]

I will agree that it gets annoying when you see a movie or show just to click on it and it requires you to buy it, the user interface does leave stuff to be desired

[@Wheelie2077]

Amazon is notorious for monitoring their staff and micro managing performance. Shame that it doesn't apply to Prime.

[@earlofdoncaster5018]

Yeah the workers and executives should be made to piss into bottles like their warehouse brethren.

[@FirstNameLastName-wt5to]

If you have to monitor and micromanage your staff, you need to take a look at your hiring practices.

[@tylergillmani5567]

Micromanaging is only for the plebs. The REAL people can’t grow under such harsh scrutiny.

[@Mucknuggle]

it does but only if you earn less than 3x minimum wage...

[@chronosschiron]

@@FirstNameLastName-wt5to yup cause you hired the wrong people

[@Conman101]

WOT is one of my favorite book series of all time, and I will never forgive Amazon for butchering Jordan’s work. Spitting on the graves of great writers seems to be all Amazon is good for.

[@toolegittoquit_001]

And if they only spit on their graves 😢

[@markmartin5817]

They not only changed the story too much they are also out of touch with the magic system of WoT. You can’t bring someone back from the dead with magic. At the end of the season they depicted the seanchan as murderers of innocent kids. In the book they almost always allowed citizens to take a side before passing their judgement. If you disagreed with their view then yeah they took action but they were there to concur the mainland with as many supporters as possible not to be whatever the show tried making them. The tsunami was overkill and is one main reason I’m not watching season 2. They end on that note it just tells me they have no idea what they’re doing for the next season

[@linusgustafsson2629]

@@markmartin5817 I liked the books but it was like 20 years between reading them and watching the show, so I had decent fun with the series. There were signs of it being Wheel of TIme, while I had no expectations on book events that they had to follow. Sadly now I don't dare to read the books again, or it would make the show unwatchable. So hoping to see the show first and then get back to the good books.

[@brianwelch1579]

@@linusgustafsson2629 The show is unwatchable, you can't disassemble the plot of WoT like they have done and have any kind of chance it will be even remotely as good after.

[@connorhus]

@@brianwelch1579 not to mention it skips around not only in time sequence but even geologically and between characters, there is no recognizable continuity unless you have read the books and can filter out the BS and remember who is who from the original... rarely even possible.

[@dbeaton1111]

I think Peripheral lost out due to a lack of advertising or due to the plot's complexity. Sad to see that it's not doing well. It's not like Rings of Power, Citadel, or Wheel of time. It's an intelligent show that reminds me a bit of The Expanse, a high-quality sci-fi series with memorable characters and staying power.

[@NoizyInSeattle]

I love the Peripheral. It has been renewed for a second season.

[@mikecarter4258]

I really enjoyed Peripheral. When I saw they renewed for a 2nd season, I was happy.

[@solokom]

I liked the Peripheral too. Great sci fi. IMHO.

[@Tommy-zs6ro]

I agree

[@fouzaialaa7962]

its easy to drown in trash if your swimming in it , each 3 or 4 months comes a good series in one of the major streaming platforms , but they get buried becoz the rest of the platform is trash , everyone is pumping garbage in order to get market share now !!

[@thomasace2547]

It’s almost as if having an infinite amount of money, but throwing it at hopeless out of touch “creatives” all in the name of virtue signalling over making a good show is bad Who knew? 🤷‍♂️

[@maguffintop2596]

Which makes one wonder how much ges-die pays.

[@maguffintop2596]

This is about proselytizing- this is not just an ideology. It’s an actual religion.

[@asarishepard8171]

Money is not infinite, they were bound to run out eventually.

[@diahreea2022]

And the woketards will still hate bezos anyway, just because he's a rich white male

[@DieselRamcharger]

@@asarishepard8171 incorrect.

[@MrCovi2955]

I don't know, it seems like there was definitely an issue with the efficiency of spending on Rings of Power. The most expensive television series of all time, and yet the money went to costumes that look like they came from a community theater, and sets that look like they came from the CW stage crew, and writing that sounded like it was written by pretentious high school drama kids who were convinced they were better writers than Tolkien himself was. It seems like there was some very inefficient spending there if that quality cost so much.

[@Liquid-Ben]

Did someone say money laundering?

[@Rar830]

“The cast took a helicopter ride to the set each day” “We wanted a field of flowers for this scene so we bought enough flowers and then had them planted beforehand” “We hired a therapist to stay on hand for the productions duration in case anyone felt overwhelmed by the pressure of their jobs.”

[@jasonk.-im6od]

Saw Rings of Power S1. Skipped over half of it. Zero interest for S2.

[@DearlyDepartedDaz]

​@@jasonk.-im6odyou watched half of it? Were you getting paid?

[@sarasunshinemt4444]

​@Ben-gs2jn that was also my take on it. I bet a closer look at the Financials would be...enlightening.

[@michaelwright3830]

I 100% subscribed to Prime for the shipping benefits. The Video perk was nice because I stumbled across Reacher, The Boys, Invincible, and a few movies and documentaries that I really enjoyed but in the main I keep my subscription current because the free shipping saves me a couple hundred bucks a month.

[@Matthewwithers33]

I’m right there with ya, I’ve had Amazon since ‘13 mainly for two day shipping while in college it wasn’t until my wife and I got married in ‘20 and got our house and paid for internet we even began using the streaming service and then we only have a handful of shows we enjoy (the boys being one of them)

[@tewks4458]

The problem with Prime Video is they are creating works made by focus groups and dispassionate corporate writers and showrunners. They need to focus less on trying to please everyone and virtue signal, and more on simply creating quality content.

[@trickyfoxx6941]

Don't blame the focus groups my wife was in on both ring of power and wheels of time. With wheels of time what they released and what they showed my wife are not the same thing. She watched an episode and it's like that entire episode was either fake and only presented to the focus group or they completely scrapped it and went a different direction I'm of the opinion they scrapped it and went with some other crap cause "woke"

[@TheeLiteClub-]

Actually, focus groups and listening to real people's opinions guided them in the right direction but they starting flopping when the woke "creatives" started bitching that people didn't wan as much "muh gays" as them and they dismissed it. 12:10

[@EchoTangoSuitcase]

The problem with Prime Video is the excess number of dumbasses involved, and the dumbass decisions they make. Just look at the Stargate IP. Never mind if you're a fan or not... A foundational movie, three TV shows with 17 years of total run-time, and two direct-to-DVD movies; and they STILL have devoted fans, a dozen years after the last episode in the verse aired. Here's a thought... You bought the damp IP. How about you let the people who made all that happen just start a new series. You can even make a movie at the same time, with a different group, and just tell them it needs to fit the overall canon. Here's your budget, don't blow it, and go make a show. How hard IS that? And you can make the same basic statements about a LOT of property that's on the market.

[@linusgustafsson2629]

Yea it is classic noob mistake. "Let's make something for everyone". Reminds me of the first Final Fantasy movie which bombed. Followed by them making a FF7 for fans movie which did if nothing else better according to reviews.

[@laserpoint3741]

theres many great amazon original shows still The Boys, Invincible, Reacher, Terminal List, The Expanse

[@soundbyte]

If Amazon wanted to know why people have Prime, they could simply survey their customers. But they won't, because too many heads would roll.

[@HermitGeek]

If they offered a cheaper option without TV or Music or Twitch, just delivery, they would quickly find out...

[@Olinser]

The simple fact is that the only reason a huge number of them are subscribed to Prime in the first place is because of the free shipping. Take that away and Prime Video would have a fraction of subscribers.

[@Casey093]

@@Olinser That is the truth... Prime is a nice addition you get for free, anyways. In the last year, they have grown better only because Netflix got much worse, but they should not take this as a reason to go on a power trip.

[@jarihaukilahti]

more like i dont want to watch a movie made by his hands - kidmovies or dumber adults

[@daddynanners3944]

@@qtsssim that's the only reason I have it as well. Prime Video is a bonus, but I use that maybe a handful of times a year if that.

[@DreynHarry]

Reacher did not fail - quite the opposite, also Jack Ryan is performing quite okay, but their money spender series ROP and Citadel did perform abysmal.

[@jamesbrice6619]

Yeah, both of those series are great.

[@lunaboy1977]

If only there were a band of hard working KZbinrs who could have pointed all these problems out for these executives for the last 5 years…

[@chronosschiron]

the critical drinker i discovered whom was railing on amazon all hte time guess what , he sells merch on amazons store LOL ya see the problem listening to these types they actually love amazon doing the stuff they can whine on and make money off them and youtube its semi disgusting

[@tonkax360]

​@@chronosschironit's entertaining and they found a niche. If you can buck off of it then these companies need to produce better content.

[@JoseSantos-zj3ll]

They don't care, they know so much better...

[@Daxinar]

@@chronosschiron So because he sells books through one of Amazon's services, he isn't allowed to criticize their other service? Don't see why that would be. Also, the world being saturated with quality content instead of shitty content wouldn't mean they couldn't pull an audience. This polarized view that they're only successful because they make negative reviews is not accurate, plenty of youtubers reach good numbers while being largely positive. It's not like Drinker, Disparu, Nerdrotic or anyone else haven't reviewed things positively before either, so please let go of this idea that they just pander to "toxic fandoms" or whatever other nonsense. Fandom exists to give honest feedback, not to blindly worship whatever companies put out.

[@ShawnGilbert1967]

Yea its Stupid....Mitalis did a good thing with Picard Season 3 and ALL the channels sited spent their time and energy PUSHING it...got my same views and is why until SNW Season 2 Episode 3 I gave Paramount + another chance ( pulled the plug just simply not enough Pike and the treatment of Spock is criminal ).... Didn't say a bad word about Maverick.....or Terminal List ect watched all the content praising that as well.... If they made good shit there is an audience to watch, discuss, and debate that too it just so happens not much is good and DISPARU is GIFTED at showing up WHY

[@MrTickleTrunk]

I believe Jack Ryan, Reacher AND Terminal List were all purchsed by Amazon and weren't projects they did themselves... explains a lot.

[@aceambling7685]

I wouldnt doubt that Amazon made them, those shows are just as pozzed and terrible as Rings of Power, they're just more subtle with the propaganda.

[@Aurora07]

​@@aceambling7685what??

[@stephenphillips6245]

Reacher is the only one I watched and it was quite good as was the movie Air. If the content they buy is better than the stuff they make ...just buy third party .

[@mhauze4all]

Reacher was good. I recently rewatched it and and still really enjoyed it. Terminal List was meh, somewhat overrated. Solid, but nothing special. (I think things have gotten so bad in Hollywood that solid but merely decent movies and series are now considered stellar efforts, by way of comparison.) Jack Ryan I found either boring or annoying, as a longtime Clancy book fan. Couldn’t finish season one. Underwhelming. And I already liked most of the starring actors, so…

[@insertrandomnamehere764]

I wouldn't say reacher was good. It was passable. But compared to the crap that has been put out over the past few years it could be compared to citizen cane and the godfather.

[@jdortonjanice]

As a Technical Support Associate in an Amazon warehouse, I absolutely 100% APPROVE this message.

[@Bulltrapaskslap]

Take your talent and get far far far far away from anything Amazon. Unless you're in your first month get the fuck out

[@andreasgoransson]

Amazon is like a child with billions and billions to spend.

[@sarasunshinemt4444]

Amazon is like our federal government, is what you mean lol

[@LavaLot-zi5us]

A child at least would spend cash on things it likes without worrying about diversity or wokeness

[@TheAciddragon069]

the thing about Prime video is is that nobody gets Prime for Prime video, they only get it for 2 day shipping, Video is just a bonus, so they will perpetually just lose money until they find other revenue streams like ads or sponsorships, or making hits at the ever-shrinking box office

[@CroMagJohnson]

you're right. we cancelled netflix, but won't cancel prime because my wife orders stuff all the damn time.

[@ShooterMcgavin119]

Yep. I've heaed probably twenty people say "and you get Prime video with it". Whenever someone is explaining why prime is great, it's not about eh Video, that's just an added bonus they all mention. I've never heard it go the other way

[@maguffintop2596]

How the hell does the CEO ever come to the conclusion that people get Amazon Prime to watch Prime productions? He is either the biggest liar that ever lived or the stupidest man that ever lived.

[@anonomaly]

Thing is, if Prime Video had an actual library of content AT LEAST as good as Hulu, I'd consider it an actual bonus. As is, I check out what they have every few months just to be left disappointed because the line-up is abysmal. I live in Alaska, so Prime shipping is one of the best things ever.

[@DanakarEndeel]

Heh, true. Heck, over here I pay like €4 a month for Amazon Prime. For that I get free Prime shipping, Prime Gaming rewards, and then Prime Video (that I rarely ever use). So yeah, I primarily bought it for the free shipping and gaming rewards. I think I may have used Prime Video once to watch a movie on my computer; but I'd rather just buy it on blu ray and watch it downstairs on my tv set. I just have something against renting vs owning and would rather own stuff compared to renting it.

[@tjjordan4207]

This is why I’m building up my physical film library, including my VUDU library. I would rather own movies and shows than paying separate streaming services a month. The only reason I have Amazon Prime is the free shipping and 2-day delivery (although it doesn’t always arrive on time).

[@Maskaradogmz]

love your work disparu keep up the good reviews and exposing idiocracy on the media

[@jking0351]

It makes no sense to have Terminal List and Reacher be so good and then have Tolkien and Jordan's stories be desimated by activism.

[@Broughden]

The first twi were created to appeal, the second two were created to spread a sociopolitical message.

[@cgavin1]

Terminal List and Reacher were both bloody terrible though? Low brow, low effort, cliche, cheaply produced..

[@danh2716]

Counterpoint - Reacher was only good because of the actor/performance of the dude who played Reacher. The rest of the characters were kind of annoying garbage that were such Charactures of the stereotype they were supposed to be playing. Terminal List was good though.

[@gusty9053]

It's in the video. Salky had nothing to do with them, they were made / bought / produced by the previous CEO. All the recent "hundreds of millions of dollars wasted" bombs are because "whaman boss" metaphorically speaking "stole the company credit card" and went on a bender trying to bang as many "hollywood celebrities" as she can get her hands on.

[@TheSuperappelflap]

@@danh2716 Jack Ryan was also enjoyable for me, all 3 seasons were well written and the acting was better than I see in most movies nowadays. It wasnt anything groundbreaking or super innovative but it was good.

[@robertpopa2628]

Someone wanted to do a "dragon riders of pern" series, and he did an interview about it. The short version Warner brothers optioned his script and concept He was looking for locations and getting ready to cast when wb sent some screenwroters out to 'take another look' Then sent him new scripts, which he described as zena meets buffy He went to wb, reminded them that they'd optioned his script and the new scriot was garbage Wb responded with: do it our way or it's not getting done Well, it didn't get done But this is often what happens, they might have started with scripts that were more true to the series, but then had the rules, and script, changed on them

[@tonym.8069]

Pretty much and a lot of it has to do with them chasing (already probably outdated) trends. Like the people who wrote not Twilight was a massive hit or not Hunger Games or not Throne of Glass or not Luminaria or whatever that infamously written book from tiktok is called. When all you do is chase the trend rather then fill the void youre going to have a bad time. One Piece is winding down there isnt many other pirate or the like manga or stories really why not go after that? A pirate isekai a la One Piece meets ascendance of a book worm or jobless reincarnation might really pop off both in the West and East

[@NicholasLandry-ho2fs]

If WB didn't want the script, then why did they even option it in the first place. If it was me, I'd respond to the studio with " No, you either do it MY way like I intended or I take this script to another studio. You're not the only game in town." Their loss would be their competitor's gain. Imagine a Dragon Riders of Pern series made by Paramount or Universal.

[@thattinawoman5119]

I want to see Salke and Kathleen Kennedy partner up on a project - whatever they came up with would tank Disney Lucasfilm and Amazon at the same time...

[@toolegittoquit_001]

Include Phoebe Waller Bridge and its failure is assured !

[@RealityDysfunction85]

Chuck in Mindy Kaling just to be sure.

[@Sorain1]

@@RealityDysfunction85 I'm pretty sure at that point it would either form some kind of anti-entertainment singularity... or cross some kind of barrier and produce something good as a result.

[@jscotthamilton5809]

One could only hope the outcome would be the meltdown of diversity hiring practices and the reinstatement of the meritocracy.

[@triGRIMM]

That sounds amazing!! KK and Sulkiness but what major franchise is left to destroy and crush all the beloved characters?

[@AB-jd5rz]

I actually love this business model and in fact I think they should apply this exact same strategy to customers who purchase physical media too: so for example, any time you order a DVD of an action film, they send you a Lifetime network drama and then if you tell them it isn't what you ordered and you would like an exchange or refund, they send an automated email calling you a toxic bigot.

[@liamwarner5749]

I'm not 100% sure this isn't actually a marketing strategy some business are adopting.

[@philipsolo_5010]

So this year they increased Prime monthly fee by 12.5%, reduced and in fact eliminated any next day deliveries other than for orders on Mon-Weds (UK orders from Thurs now only get delivered on the next Monday with Prime) and almost anything worth watching in new movies is pay to play through purchase, direct rental fees or extra subscriptions to advertising laden channels like Paramount, Lionsgate, Britbox, or similar sub channels... every one of which has to be paid separately via a new bank debit... There's no combined premium tier.. and wasn't Prime supposed to be THE premium tier on its own? They de-linked all the Amazon retail reviews for movies and series from the Amazon prime video site so you can no longer read reviews on the site before deciding whether to invest time watching any product. Most vintage content quickly gets shunted off to pay to play only after a short run as do most classic movies. ....OK it's a small amount per month, but frankly I'm considering cancelling it now as everything that I joined it for has been taken away or eroded so why give them the revenue.. more people should cancel to affect them in the only way they value, lost revenue

[@BOBXFILES2374a]

Have you ever seen an Amazon driver at work? Lazy,incompetent young slobs. Guess they hired one to run their service.

[@blakerackley8874]

The issues seem to be: hiring unqualified storytellers, spreading out responsibility without proper oversight, and then not having a creatively essential employee making decisions. Spending other people's money (with little fear of consequences) is easy Great video, dude. Thank you for what you do.

[@jakeroon]

This type of content is not a business, it's a religion. In the big world ruling money club: if you do not proselytize the agenda of the leaders, you don't get a seat at the table. It's just part of the cost of entry. Does it lose money, maybe, probably, but what you gain in return is access to more money making opportunities than you could ever lose on a few dozen tv shows. These companies full well know they are going to have to take a loss of 20-30% to dedicate to the environmental social governance projects of their overlords. As long as the spending stays in that zone they are fine.

[@ramons8908]

Problem is what's a qualified story teller, someone who's learned the theory of story telling at university, ticks all the woke boxes, that's going to be about as interesting as reading a phone book. You could say people write best selling novels, problem is they definitely aren't in the Hollywood club and prone to saying things like men aren't women. The woke religion has no way of controlling a person who's made millions on their own. Frankly, with how they are going, they might be better off just hiring random people from the street to write their stories, do a lot better job than a bunch of gender studies grads.

[@canuck3169]

I’d hesitate to call any of these `creators’ `unqualified storytellers’. What they make has little to do with creativity or storytelling even in the broadest use of the word. Like vandals they destroy more than create and seem to revel in it.

[@daddynanners3944]

the problem is they aren't hiring storytellers. They are hiring activists who are acting like story tellers & no one is checking them on that.

[@mr.smiles3212]

Reacher and terminal list were great shows. What they did to rings of power and wheel of time was a crime

[@HermannTheGreat]

Reacher would be considered an average TV series at best if it wasn't on Prime.

[@sarasunshinemt4444]

​@@HermannTheGreatI rather liked it. Was better than the Tom Cruise movies. They also have Bosch and took over The Expanse. But for every good show, they have these pricy woke duds.

[@allenlindsey1175]

i was 100% AMPED about the wheel of time series......then i seen a trailer nuh said

[@mr.smiles3212]

@@allenlindsey1175 they didn't managed to top the travesty that was the Sword of Truth TV series but it wasn't for lack of trying.

[@desmondjefferson2127]

WoT was so bad, I didn't get thru episode 1 the writing was that bad. Yet, it gets a 3rd season.....this is why I'm reading more books lately and cancelled all streamers but Prime, only because I get it free with the shipping. 🤷‍♂️

[@darwinjina]

My biggest complaint is the Search options, I should say the lack of trying to get a list of prime movies for various genre

[@birdy9922]

I was an Amazon Prime member for years. Not for the video perks but for the free guaranteed 2-day shipping. Then they decided to be an entertainment company and that's when I knew things would go to hell. Sure enough the guarantee of 2-day shipping quietly disappeared and your stuff just started arriving in 3 to 5 days while the membership costs creeped up. Also, the Chinese scam vendors who posed as legit companies were making Amazon a real risky place to shop and there seemed to be no one looking out for the consumer. Rings of Power was the last straw for me. I'm back to shopping in brick & mortar stores and have ZERO interest in any of Amazon's "original" content they are peddling. Oh...and f*

[@TheIsraelProphetess]

You stated every single grievance with them I have. I have also returned to shopping for individual stores. Just like we alluse to do before 2012 lol It’s not as convenient or quick. But you know you’re shopping local or domestic. and you know you’re getting quality.

[@stevenschultz9637]

I need a way to filter out the Chinese fakes

[@craigd6261]

Exactly my view too. I was a Prime member for many years for the shipping benefits, but after trying to watch Rings of Power (and particularly after seeing how they treated fans opinions), I haven't renewed Prime and look elsewhere when I can.

[@kgoodfarms]

Yep I quit this past year too, same situation. Bezos can eat a bag of d

[@Skoora]

For many people Amazon is easily a better choice for finding what they need vs. local stores. Plus local stores also have a lot of cheap shit made over seas. One day of trying three different hardware stores, including Hd and Lowe’s to not find a generic thing, with the driving and frustration, to then find it instantly on Amazon at a cheaper cost and it will be there sometimes the same day if you order in the morning. It’s a no brainer. I don’t love it, we’re building a Corpocracy with monopolies and killing diversity in business but there’s only so much I’m willing to do with my time in supporting local business. If government is not willing to break up these giants like Amazon and Google, not much I can do about it, without a major change in government and how it’s influenced by money. But that’s another rabbit hole for another day.

[@rouninpanda6318]

Trying to make Phoebe an A list movie star is like legacy media trying to make a viral video.

[@Olinser]

I mean honestly, it's no dumber than trying to make somebody like Brie Larson or Daisy Ridley an A list movie star.

[@rouninpanda6318]

@@Olinser While Rey is a terrible character, at least Daisy Ridley is likeable. Brie, however, could suck the joy out of going to the dentist.

[@rubix4195]

Spielberg may have nuked a fridge on Indiana Jones but Phoebe dropped a Waller-Bridge on him! She is literally a "Fetch" actress: people needs to stop making "her" happen.

[@thousandyoung]

@@rubix4195 A Generational Issue.

[@SirBlackReeds]

Or like trying to motivate Chris Christie without waving a donut in front of his face.

[@zealousray]

It really makes me believe blackrock/vanguard has these companies by the balls and is somehow forcing these companies to hire these hand picked ESG writers instead of just following the books. I really cant believe these big companies dont realize they are throwing away their money

[@jjdillon1207]

100%. DEI is ruining everything

[@NathanTarantlawriter]

I don't blame writers. I blame producers. They got plenty of good writers that can't sell their stuff or get hired because the producer has an "agenda."

[@SaltyAsTheSea]

Tbh this has to be the case, I struggle to imagine how "failing up" is a legitimate thing.

[@bilalbaig8586]

​@@SaltyAsTheSea The same reason why there was flood of startups whose business models were "paying people to become customers until you got big enough". Big businesses could get tons of money for basically zero interest. Combine that with banks not ebign allowed to fail meant that people with the right connections could get infinite money to pursue what ever the hell they wanted. Until COVID hit. But it will take some time and a few bankruptcies for reality to take hold again. Once this nonsense has been weeded out from the entertainment world, the LGBTQ+ agenda will also start to fade.

[@nadrewod999]

They literally DID have the companies by the balls: they used their financial leverage to force the banks to start demanding ESG scores for business credit lines, causing every business to suddenly need to add a D.I.E. department just to maintain their prior credit line, or forcing them to hype up their D.I.E. efforts if they were low on cash and trying to attract some venture capital investors.

[@cliffbarber7581]

The guy she chased off when she canceled the Conan shoe went to HBO and made a little show called House of the Dragon. Good call Salkie

[@MegaSpideyman]

Chased off?

[@plutoniumzeppelin8164]

Even though a Conan show created by Ryan Condal would have likely been a breath of fresh air, the silver lining here is that after Salke shot it down in favor of Wheel of Time, Ryan Condal ended up going to HBO with another project -- House of the Dragon

[@superomegaprimemk2]

And House of the Dragon showed up around the same time as ROP and beat it, throughly!!

[@clogs4956]

Conan escaped the clutches of evil demons once more. Phew!

[@superomegaprimemk2]

@@clogs4956 Its a case of where he will pop up next and how behind the scenes stuff, prevents his return to the screen!

[@Darkgun231]

@twitteriscancer5403 Conan is not public domain yet. He was published in 1932, with his final work in 1936. That means Conan as a character will be public domain in 2028, and all of the Conan mythos will be public domain in 2032. At least in the US. UK and Europe copyright laws are different, and over there, Conan has been public domain since 2007.

[@Darkgun231]

@twitteriscancer5403 And that is a short story. Different copyright rules. Yes, it is in the public domain, but it wouldn't be hard for the estate owners to sue anybody trying to use its plot or Conan as a character. So, until 2028, Conan is still not in the public domain.

[@ohnosmoarlulcatz]

I watch more Asian dramas than original programming on Amazon. But if there's a major problem, I would say it's hat streaming services are paying WAY too much to try to get shows as exclusives rather than licensing them out. Subscriptions are costing a lot more and offering a lot less.

[@Dufoth]

They literally have a road map to billions of dollars and they threw it out the window for modern audiences

[@MrJagermeister]

For what it’s worth, I saw Air in the theater and thought it was very good. It only had a limited engagement though - not sure it even had a full week, it was just Amazon putting a film in the theater to qualify it for an Oscar and maybe get some buzz for it.

[@GeoffInfield]

*Strong Female Lead 2004* : Katee Sackhoff as gender swapped Starbuck. Superb. Believable. *Strong Female Lead 2023* : Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan on The Mandalorian. Same actress yet her character just destroyed the Mandalorian, Disney+ subs dropped, and I quit over it. *The problem isn't audience sexism.* I rage quit Rings Of Power half way thru S01E01 when I realised Galadriel's nose twitch was actually morse code for "we hate all men". Strength doesn't come from weakening men and making female characters superhuman with ZERO explanation 🤬 But WE'RE sexist? Idiots.

[@davidfrancisco3502]

Everything with women leading in action & adventure stuff always has been woke feminazi propaganda wake the hell up.

[@MandoMTL]

100% The pettiness bleeds through.

[@MAGAMAN]

The Battlestar Galactica remake was absolute garbage. The only thing that had in common with the original was the name. She was terrible in that and everything else she has been in.

[@DanielGonzalez-vo5ni]

I just dont see why they felt the need to make Galadriel some badass warrior she is a badass and one of the oldest elves in Middle Earth but she's more like a sorceress than a warrior they also butchered the Wheel of Time and tried to make it seem like anyone could be the Dragon Reborn when no its pretty specific in the story there's a literal prophecy but you know why try to faithfully adapt something you paid millions for and that already has a built in fanbase the shows aren't for those people anyway

[@davidfrancisco3502]

@@MAGAMAN Everything with women leading in action & adventure stuff always has been leftist feminazi propaganda. Buffy was made with the intention to be feminist propaganda and every other similar movie, TV show and cartoon.

[@Telorchid]

Honestly I am shocked that Phoebe Waller-Bridge can have so many bombs and retain some kind of 'it' status as a creator. She should have been working on something remotely like Fleabag, not massive genre franchises.

[@Sorain1]

Perhaps she has taken the KK route and holds dirt on key figures in the business?

[@TheSuperappelflap]

she will continue to get funding as long as she stays on the manhating bandwagon.

[@Telorchid]

@@Sorain1 I had forgot about that part of KK's repertoire. Seems unlikely given PWB's newness but I suppose it's possible.

[@rubix4195]

I don't think she hates men but I she think is utterly un-sufferable: it's like that girl in the class who has to make sure her view on something (religion, politics, sexual dynamics) is an answer for every situation or lesson when the class want her to just STFU but she won't because she thinks she's got a cute smile, clever and hysterical that she's performing for an audience. Like the Critical Drinker said, the UK has a bad habit of exporting our unfunniest people to the US. I am sorry for everyone in the States but, unlike Amazon, in the UK, we don't accept returns after 14 days.

[@chronosschiron]

@@rubix4195 you mean the critical drinker we caught railing on amazon that was also selling amazon merch THAT CRITICAL DRINKER HYPOCRITCAL PIECE A SHIT better research whom your heroes are they suck donkey balls and only ragfest for its own sake to make money not to be true about being critical

[@bletheringfool]

Remember, they bought MGM studios last year for 8.4 billion dollars. They also own Audible and Amazon music, which, on top of the goods and delivery services, likely prop up this spending. I used to work for a newspaper group. A local paper was very profitable and was propping up a national paper. They did it because the name was more prestigious. But the result was they were funnelling money into a loss-making venture for kudos

[@darcymoon2109]

I think you’re giving them too much credit. I have figured out that they never have a “master plan.”

[@weird-guy]

Amazon is only alive because of AWS

[@kenc9236]

They might like PWB however the fans do not. So what do they do....Hire her again. Fools the lot of them!

[@rrnonya5472]

She is good for "The Message" as critical drinker would say...

[@PenSwordGuy]

A big problem at Amazon and Hollywood in general is a cult of un-creativity when it comes to writing. They seem to be of the mindset that hours of explosions and blurred CGI will draw audiences, as opposed to well-developed characters and careful plot elements. So, as you point out, production costs go up while quality continues to decline.

[@aceambling7685]

Its not a mindset so much as it is outright incompetence. They arent choosing not to write, they are just terrible at writing, they dont know what they are doing, they are talentless hacks.

[@25Soupy]

It's all garbage and that's exactly why I cut my TV cable in 2014 and haven't been to a movie theatre ever since either.

[@FinnProp]

Bad writing and casting is the norm today. Character development is something the writers haven’t been able to do right for long time. Star Wars is a great example.

[@beyondlimitationsvideo]

But then, the question is: Why are millions and millions of people watching all this crap? Indeed, quality has declined when it comes to filmmaking and writing, but the masses just seem to enjoy it.

[@PenSwordGuy]

@@beyondlimitationsvideo That is a great question. I wish that I knew why, but I think there is a segment of the masses that can't wait to gobble up anything that Hollywood tosses at them: the brainless re-boots, the plotless special effects exhibitions, etc. But I suspect there is another segment of population that hunger for something good, something that is both entertaining. But Hollywood keeps aiming at the low-hanging fruit, because they're a sure thing, while neglecting the much larger potential market that seeks quality.

[@jacksonian71]

Amazing commentary. Spot on. I’ve been a Prime member for years for the shipping and product subscriptions. I’ve searched hundreds of times through the clunky terrible interface of Prime Video trying to find ANYTHING I would want to watch. Never find anything.

[@hakonsoreide]

Most people who watched Rings of Power did it in order to have a more informed opinion on just how bad it was. Once that conclusion is reached, I don't think that many would want to waste any more of their time for the rest of season one, never mind a potential second season.

[@alsmith9853]

So far I've watched about the first 5 minutes. I just can't force myself to watch any more

[@michaelwills1926]

@@alsmith9853you made it 5 minutes more than I was able to muster

[@darkhighwayman1757]

I refused to watch any of it. I saw some bits on you tube and that was too much

[@mark4asp]

I watched it to give it a chance. I wasn't going to trust all the KZbin reviewers because I suspected they had an agenda. Anyhow - they were right. It is bad.

[@theeffete3396]

I've spoken to casuals who aren't too keyed into the culture war stuff, and they said they quite watching because it was too boring. They liked the concept and bought into the hype, but the show just sucked.

[@B.Evil.C]

I have Amazon Prime. Would I have Prime without video? Absolutely. Would I have Prime Video as a standalone product? Absolutely No. Your point on Prime Video is absolutely spot-on. If they are so confident, they should spin it off as standalone (and offer discount to Prime) and see how badly it does.

[@kelf114]

I hate Prime video. I already pay for the Prime subscription, but anything I'd want to watch has an extra charge! And what they have for "free" isn't anything I'd ever want to see. I have Prime for the shopping and shipping benefits. I don't care at all about Prime video.

[@chronosschiron]

its cant caus ethey make you pay the sub monthly then ask for more sub monthly money for shit they own like mgm and for months it didnt even have all the stargate there and still doesnt no stargate universe hrm.

[@chronosschiron]

and the constant need ot relogin every part of the prime site you want to use is annying as all hell ive had a few services and ill say it disney dont do anything like prime and i think ill go back to disney + rather then prime

[@jackvoss1527]

Same

[@evertonporter7887]

I've only watched The Expanse and Reacher on Prime Video over the last 12 months.

[@mchammer5592]

Simply put, could prime video exist without amazon? They would have closed their doors after the first show.

[@Sue_Me_Too]

There's nothing wrong with making art that nobody wants to see; the problem is when you spend other people's money in the process.

[@Alinda1308]

Exactly. And just because people don't want to see it doesn't necessarily mean it's not good art (Van Gogh is a great example of that, he didn't sell that much when he was alive, still he is considered one of the most loved painters nowadays). But as you said, if you waste other's money in the process you can't really complain...

[@liamwarner5749]

I'd say there's also a problem with being so self absorbed when you try to sell said art and its not liked you blame everyone else rather than admitting your tastes are obviously not financially viable. Especially when your opening pitch is telling them the art is not for them.

[@TheEsquire88]

Sounds like all the leftist/socialists in biden admin

[@thebrotherskrynn]

Take it from both a Frenchman and a Canuck, and from a Tolkien-tuber who has watched the culture-wars as they have gone on for 10+ years; Amazon's not gonna give up so easily. This has not dented for a single second their resolve to push their message, if anything it has only hardened it. It is why it is so important to cling to the lore (as my and other channels do), ignore what's being pumped out and to create new culture/fantasy series.

[@thorthorenson4296]

SJWs always double down, even as they lose millions.

[@Zeoran]

Hollywood is the only industry other than politics where you can literally fail UPWARD.

[@farmersneed8255]

As someone who has worked with the government, add that to the list.

[@patrickhenry8425]

There are patterns that could be noticed..

[@primmakinsofis614]

_Hollywood is the only industry other than politics where you can literally fail UPWARD._ No, you can fail upwards in pretty much any industry. It's a function of elitism, nepotism, hubris, and bureaucracy, and those exist in every business to one degree or another.

[@hazepheno925]

And those industries both have a lot of pedos.

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

Any large corperation functions that way. It is all about deflecting responsibility, it is the only skill you need to become a high payed exec.

[@BattlewarPenguin]

It's amazing how long it took for that company to ask where their budget went.

[@rubix4195]

I think they are one of the company's that everything is gravy right up to the tax man knocks. I think California is still going ahead with that sort of millionaire's tax that means you are going to get taxed no matter where your assets are. The fact that Amazon - with the EU and others creeping in - have been playing the "keep our business non-taxable" game for so long, they are finally waking up that they need to look after their books more. (Blowing cash on films and TV series when they should have paid tax always gets accountants worried in Hollywood).

[@ripleyevil9135]

There are a few diamonds in the rough when speaking of Amazons streaming properties. The Marvelous Mrs Maisel was there for me after Mad Men ended. They (Amazon) will bring an older series back to watch then take it off of Prime after about a year - I hate that I’ll have to pay for it now that it’s not available on Prime. As far as new content; Amazon needs to stop trying to promote agendas and make something good. More expensive doesn’t mean it’s worth watching.

[@Mitzoplick]

When the Amazon CEO lists Reacher and The Terminal List as the success Prime Video has, that sums things up for me. They know what is truly successful.

[@evertonporter7887]

Don't forget The Expanse.

[@JSmith73]

These are all actually brilliant shows though.

[@seavee2000]

Don't spend a penny with amazon. Such a joy to hear that it is all turning to shit, best video of the week.Thank you for cheering me up.

[@rccc5806]

The Peripheral is a crazy good show that I wondered how it got done already. It's been renewed, that's great news. It's good to not scratch every penny once in a while, this is how the big masterpieces in movies and TV got done in most cases.

[@andy-floriplay-time7366]

BASED ECONOMY!

[@JoseRamirez-vb1sk]

What does "based" mean? I'm old lol

[@CharlesUrban]

If Disparu ever comes out with merchandise, that should be the first t-shirt.

[@silverscorpio24]

Jennifer Salke is like that teenage girl buying closets of designer shoes with Daddy's credit card.

[@RobBon12]

Bwahahaha....Brilliant!!

[@coffeemug3009]

And she tries so hard to be liked by the popular kids (celebs) by buying them expensive lunch. The popular kids knew they could scam her so they just play-pretend to be her friend, especially this girl called Phoebe waller-bridge.

[@taloutezero]

Not even designer shoes. Vanity "fashion" projects that are super overpriced by the artist but turn out to be worthless.

[@Paskaloth]

"And all of these men, had to sit there and act like they didn't know what the answer was" it's a conundrum for me as well Bill...

[@Ellis_Hugh]

Nothing will ever be worse than the vomitous betrayal that is this Wheel of Time series. The books were sublime, and the show genuinely feels like it was made by people who hated the books expressly for people who never read the books.

[@Nyet-Zdyes]

Did you see the tweet from the show-runner (destroyer) that Disparu included in one of his fairly recent reviews? The show-runner (cretin) posted that he was looking forward to ruining all we loved about the books.

[@acewmd.]

I don’t like the books, like at all. They’re terrible. But you fans of it deserved better than what you got.

[@jacksonsilva4409]

I never read the books, watched the series and thought it was 'ok' considering other recent productions.

[@jakobbraun5180]

@@jacksonsilva4409 you definitly should read the books then

[@rasch5861]

I wasted such an incredible amount of time and money on the WoT series because my favorite author did the last 3 books of the series. At least it broke me of my completion obsession!

[@TheDalinkwent]

What cracks me up..is they never prop up or talk about the shows that actually are successful (Reacher, Ryan, Terminal List)

[@ygkemosabi8280]

to many white males there

[@MK_ULTRA420]

Nahh they were shilling Secret Agent Jim Halpert for months last year.

[@TheDalinkwent]

@@MK_ULTRA420 You mean they happened to mention it once while they droned on and on about Rings?

[@canuck3169]

I recently received notification from Amazon Prime about the new season of Jack Ryan. The `poster’ for the ad was a black woman, not Jack Ryan. They just can’t help themselves….

[@TheDalinkwent]

@@canuck3169 I've noticed that on Netflix as well...no matter how minor or irrelevant, if their diverse..they're getting thumbnail action and focus.

[@tednolan]

I think Amazon would be very surprised if they offered Prime without video for $20 less at how many subscribers would convert. I know I got it for the free shipping, and I suspect I'm not alone.

[@jasondoesinternet3636]

There are too many KZbinrs who pump out videos with nothing more than them reading over an article with no insight. DIsparu is great at being able to take those articles and elaborate further with his informed and sarcastic insight on the subject, so I come away having learned something. Thanks!

[@NK-mn6zu]

Prime and Disney both failing due to wokeness. What a time to be alive! 🎉

[@geekarchivistpearce828]

Indeed

[@npcperson2158]

Both relying on Chinese Slave labour , but virtue signalling.

[@briansergeant]

Can I also add Viaplay to that list? Although it's not wokeness (see Heder/Honour for example) that's killing Viaplay it's the fact they've overpaid for certain sports rights in certain countries and can't get the subs to pay for it!

[@goufr3540]

Those two have more in common than you think now. Although Amazon does have the benefit of being a shipping company first. Although with how poorly Amazon Studio is, that it should just be cut off completely and everyone around it fired.

[@kpmclean]

The term "WOKE" has been completely misunderstood and hijacked

[@XaertV]

Prime Video apps (tv specifically) perform significantly worse than any others, and their front-end is confusing making things you want to see hard to find. It's a common problem Amazon have in general. The UX is just really, really, really, really bad.

[@NerdlySquared]

Prime Video is just a value add that is tagged on to their Amazon Prime package to make it more attractive, so it’s not like Prime Video can really fail overall by its own merit alone. However, I’m sure they are chapped it’s turning out to be more of a money sink rather than some side income and makes the whole package less attractive overall, which is what the real pain point is.

[@sonoftheredfox]

While probably not on the same $$ level, it's kind of like that with Prime Gaming - another add on that while, yes, I got Madden 23 from it, I also got a bunch of low-tier point and click games with terrible voice acting and interfaces and packs for mobile games I'll never play or install.

[@alexfriedman918]

Exactly! I’d never buy a Prime Video membership, but I had it for a while with an Amazon Prime membership!

[@Cman04092]

I dont know anyone who has prime for the video or any of the other side bonuses. Dont get me wrong, prime gaming is okay, gives a free twitch sub, and the music is decent, its basically a low rate spotify. Prime video is almosy worthless, i wouldn't even spent $1 a month on it.

[@philmorton4590]

The strategy was to out spend Netflix and at close loss leading improve Amazon sales while killing the rivals. It's actually been very successful in this. I think alot more people take Amazon prime day seriously now. Even Disney's slowly getting out of the streaming wars.

[@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917]

It's difficult to say, honestly. Like, a big part of the reason for Amazon Prime being so successful with Prime was the pandemic forcing everyone inside and businesses to shut their doors, the shows were virtually irrelevant in boosting those sales on Prime. But, like, these shows were notoriously expensive and didn't really lead to anything. They'd have to have sold a lot of "shoes" on Prime to make up for what they spent on Rings Of Power But, that's speculation. What we do know is that post-pandemic, Amazon is declining which prompted people asking if Jeff Bezos should re-take his CEO role, and likely prompted Amazon to take a more critical look at the spending of Prime Video.

[@sharlockshacolmes9381]

I think it's interesting that in a world where a lot of people have prime for fast shipping and free Twitch subs those same people aren't bothered to watch free shows with budget up to half a billion dollars.

[@luniz4209]

people would rather watch a 15 minute informed rant from a guy in front of a microphone than a 2 hour long lecture..

[@sharlockshacolmes9381]

@@luniz4209to be frank I'd rather drive stakes into my balls than watch this show

[@TheIceMan23]

companies care about making money? that's shocking..

[@Captain_Neckbeard]

It is considering the crap Amazon and Disney produce.

[@Rar830]

In a world where Cleopatra and Velma are a thing? Dunno

[@Raximus3000]

The shocking is people think she laundered money through this...

[@johnnyskinwalker4095]

It's more like they care about spending money, not making money

[@dariusq8894]

I'm convinced Prime Video is meant to be a tax write off for Amazon's shopping arm, hence why they would want it to be losing money. It's a disgusting waste of resources, but it seems some uber rich would rather burn money than donate it.

[@pandajacket1598]

Not how tax write offs work. I agree Amazon is wasting money and ruining literature but its just as exhausting seeing this moronic logic repeated over and over.

[@JayTobas]

This entire situation is an example of what happens when people have too much money, and dont know what to do with it all.

[@grandmufftwerkin9037]

It turns out that tempest Galadriel felt inside of her was just financial implosion.

[@dahelmang]

Treacherous as the sea the finances of Prime Video are.

[@selahr.]

Excellent analysis. Too bad Amazon CEO won’t listen to this kind of absolute truth and honesty.

[@chincemagnet]

It’s not hard to have the most successful show of all time. Lord of the rings, with a writing team that’s experienced and passionate about LoR, with no political agenda whatsoever

[@warchefseed]

Impossible

[@tonym.8069]

Its not that hard but it requires true visionaries who do not shit the bed midway or are forced to shit the bed. The fact though they wasted that much money on Rings of Power and not Wheel of Time with a lot of untapped potential (and still is) is mindboggling.

[@chincemagnet]

@@warchefseed probably

[@Lttlemoi]

Wheel of Time could have been a major hit too. It's fanbase is very loyal. They just decided to piss away the opportunity.

[@ach2lieber]

I've been a Prime Member almost from the beginning. I remember enjoying much of the content in 2015, 2016, etc. But I rarely watch Amazon shows now. Almost without exception, they're awful. Jennifer Salke became the head of Amazon Prime in 2018. In my view, she is to Prime what Kathleen Kennedy is to Lucas Films -- a destructive force, although a less extreme one.

[@whitehawk1057]

They hire writers that not only don't know much of the material, but what little they do know of it they actively hate. It's the same with many shows at Netflix like the Witcher. Unfortunately many of the older writers that knew their subject material and cared about doing a good job have either retired or replaced with younger writers with a qualification or that can tick a box and are also an activist. When that happens you have writers, and i use that term loosely, that think even with no experience they are better than the likes of Tolkien and can fix his works, that same ones that are translated into multiple languages and world renowned across decades. It never ends well for those involved yet they keep repeating it as it's not their money and those at the top have little idea of what the customers want or what goes on within their own companies, it's ok though because they get a message out, not to many but they get it out, not unlike a park flasher in a dirty rain coat.

[@daveeyes]

Well said.

[@aragorn1780]

I think one of the big ones (and it definitely turns me off and why I'll never pay for prime) is how you're basically paying for a streaming subscription but Amazon Prime is inconsistent as to what's freely available with the subscription and what you have to rent or purchase on top of the subscription costs... INCLUDING for Amazon Prime originals! how nobody on the board realized that running these services concurrently on the exact same platform is causing confusion and frustration shows how stupidly out of touch they are

[@jf8138]

I have used prime like 2 times. If I could get a lower prime membership, just by dropping prime video, I would do it today

[@marzmarch]

The Citadel is something I sought out after seeing it during previews. The marketing and the show, however, are vastly different things.

[@michaelwright3830]

I checked it out because of the marketing as well but I never finished it and have no sense of urgency to finish it like I had with Invincible and Reacher.

[@keithlevoir608]

I lasted about 10 minutes

[@craigwillms61]

it was disappointing - absolutely no heart. I couldn't care less about any of the characters.

[@spectralplane1032]

I got as far as the part where the guy's potion that would restore his memory and skills was smashed, but the woman's wasn't. Down the feminist toilet the show would inevitably go, so I switched off.

[@EmilePesky-n1v]

The adverts for the "air" movie had the line from the batwoman tv show 😂😂😂😂 And they expected what then?

[@Merrifieldsam]

Pheobe doesn't really fit role of Lara Croft. She definitely doesn't look the part at all and I'm not so sure I'd be all that interested in seeing her in the role either. I really REALLY hope she's just a side caracter and they get someone (Ana De Armas for example) who fits the role a lot better, but considering how casting has been lately, they're probably going to cast someone who looks even less like Lara Croft than Pheobe does..

[@pensandshakers]

I think they have her as a writer, not cast as a character. Which is worse, really, because if there's one thing she definitely won't understand is how/why Lara Croft is fun.

[@big_red01027]

I don't envy whoever has to cast that show. Not just because they have to work with Waller-Bridge, but because casting Lara Croft properly is damn near impossible. Jolie and Vikander were various degrees of wrong.

[@Merrifieldsam]

@@big_red01027 At least Jolie looked the part. I actually don't know much else about her. Having Phoebe as a writer is definitely worse from what I've heard. Why? Get someone what actually wants to make something GOOD! Not intentionally destroy it! That's so sad and predictable..

[@Tegelane5]

@@pensandshakers Yep, if she is writer it will be such mockery, that she might aswell play Lara Croft too. AZ and Disparu fans probably wait and hope for that epic field day.

[@big_red01027]

@@Merrifieldsam Certainly more than Vikander. I think the accent threw people off, though.

[@andreasyono7116]

If Amazon prime would behave like prime video: customer orders sweets because he likes it and wants it, Amazon sends him vegetables because it thinks it is better for him. The customer stopped ordering because he did not get what he wanted.

[@mookyzook]

And that is why there are so many pay per view channels on Amazon Prime. If it wasn't for the delivery stuff I would drop it today. Like Amazon Prime music they are now asking you to pay again for something you've already paid for....

[@billybritt5835]

What's funny is that the amazing shows that deserve to continue get canned. I loved Night Sky, and it was less the writing and was more the actors doing an a amazing job and the overall plot that made it great. I felt it deserved a second season more than Rings of Power

[@1Mutton1]

I've not heard of the show, but your comment is testimony to the problem with video and movies. No good writing. It seems the only way a show can be good is if the actors save it.

[@green_acres_7240]

100%!

[@AGrumpyPanda]

There is something to be said for an artist or creator making something regardless of how the audience receives it. There's a certain nobility to just making something and putting it out there. That being said, if you're trying to *sell* that something, you can't exactly be mad if you make something nobody wants, and then nobody buys it.

[@EddieSpaghetti69]

It's the end-game of the south park episode of them hiding from Bullies and using Butters to filter all the filth that is sent to them. Yes, you have bullyproof windows and troll-proof doors; but without criticism you know not what you do poorly and can never improve. You'll *always hear what you want to* hear, but *never know what you need to* know; and will *always fail* when you need to succeed. South Park nailed it. Hollywood has a problem, and it's their troll-proof doors.

[@ArDeeMee]

It is the webcomic way. You just do it because you want to, and if it ever catches on, that’s just great. If not, no harm done. KZbin imitated that. You can just make a video about whatever.

[@Welchy-TV]

"admittedly the woman do destory the earth and introduce inter-generational destruction on men, but if anything that just adds to the realism." That line made me laugh so hard .🤣🤣🤣

[@Liquid-Ben]

He probably should've demanded answers earlier instead of just watching it burn.

[@Sultschiem]

Would be surprised if internally, it wasn't the most succesfull according to certain stats. When movies and series ended (or you saw the last episode of a series e.g. Lower Decks), Amazon Video would automatically start Rings of Power. Meaning anyone who fell asleep or went to the toilet after finishing something, contributed to the viewer-stats. And I would also not be surprised, if thats also a big reason for the drop-data.

[@HairyHands]

I suspect the sleb money is classified as a marketing line item which is tax deductible

[@tpyntavyk5552]

Dude, I'm a huge fan of Jack Ryan, Reacher and Terminal List. All of those and stuff like The Tomorrow War have been big hits for Prime Video, yet sadly it does not compare to Disney+ or HBO Max (which aren't doing that well anyway)

[@ElewIV]

I can't even get started on how important and directly impactful gender is in Wheel of Time and how they absolutely obliterated the story. Gender roles are literally at the center of the book series.

[@colinayre2109]

Not only that but the description of people from specific areas are incredibly important and emphasized in the books, the Domanis have coppery skin and wear silky clothes, the people of the Two Rivers look like midwestern farmers…the Aiel mostly have reddish hair…but they made everyone all kinds of diverse…is it so hard to do literally what the boobs describe?

[@TheSuperappelflap]

@@colinayre2109 cant have monoethnic monocultural 'nations' in modern entertainment. then the audience would see how well everyone gets along compared to our wonderful multicultural countries where there's riots everyday.

[@colinayre2109]

@@TheSuperappelflap i mean...Korea, and Japa, same with sweeden and denmark, they do pretty well i guess lol, but ya, i feel ya man

[@TheSuperappelflap]

@@colinayre2109 sweden has a lot of problems since they started importing from north africa and middle east. same in denmark and every other western european country. im dutch. theyre blowing up stores, putting hand grenades on doors, leaving cut off heads in front of places, shooting political commentators and journalists in broad daylight, rioting in the streets over nothing. were at the brink of civil war. in france, the military literally wrote a letter to the president this week that there is a significant risk of civil war if this problem isnt addressed and the politicians keep appeasing this demographic.

[@Thumper2506]

They absolutely obliterated everything meaningful and impactful in the books and decided pushing an agenda is more important than doing justice to a wonderful book series.

[@jeglea3534]

The writer/actor strike in Hollywood is the best thing that could have happened. At the very least it puts a pause in the Ent. Industry. Perhaps now some reflection by executives will happen as they look at budgets.

[@seethroughlife1481]

I enjoyed Reacher, was enjoying Terminal List and will possibly finish at some point, didn’t make it through ep 1 of Citadel, and thought lotr was abysmal (which is also when I stumbled onto your channel, I believe). Never read or watched WOT and don’t intend to

[@HerculesBallsInc]

I enjoyed PARTS of Reacher... and then I re-read the book it's based on and stopped enjoying it altogether.

[@leonrobinson8180]

​@@HerculesBallsInc You can't expect every TV show to be a 100% accurate adaptation. Some things don't translate well to the screen.

[@AKUJIVALDO]

​@@leonrobinson8180 yeha, like SJWs parts going up by 500% or so...

[@Genethagenius]

@@HerculesBallsIncheel of Time is amazing! (The books that is!!!) 😂)

[@HerculesBallsInc]

@@leonrobinson8180 No, of course! Different mediums require different conventions. I LIKE that the TV show added in more fight scenes and I think most of them were done quite well. The pacing of the romantic relationship was completely changed, and I can tolerate that but I don't think it was from good intentions, but rather because they totally GIRLBOSSED the female police officer. Making Finley picky about food was one way, perhaps, to show his finicky nature, but this is completely inconsistent with Reacher reminding him that details matter. Changing the fate of Finley's wife, however, was only for social justice reasons to make him look bad. Swapping the villain from Kliner to his son is another wholly detrimental change to the story. It changes it from a measured tale of crime and scheming to the insane flailings of a lunatic. I suppose they wanted to add just one more twist at the end, but it turns it into something that would have fallen apart anyway since Kliner's son wasn't really consistent or intelligent enough. Poorly thought out. Likewise with moving the processing of the money from South America to Georgia, which was a really bad idea for many reasons stated explicitly in the book. And they completely eliminated the bottleneck of having only a handful of people in the know, which also makes that the whole operation remained completely secret ludicrous. Neagley was race-swapped and GIRLBOSSED to the extreme so she was literally better than Reacher at everything, and I always hated her every appearance. She is NOT in character. Removing her entirely from this story would only improve it... and when written she WASN'T in the story. The only reason she's there is, again, for social justice reasons. So yes... there were a few changes for the better, but most were poorly thought out, ideological, and negative and completely unnecessary especially when you have something better to compare it to.

[@thrrax]

The irony is that there are a lot of people that can do awesome stuff but don't get the opportunity because they don't know "the right people".