EXCLUSIVE: In its latest corporate realignment, Amazon has created a single unit for third-party living room device business development and partner marketing for Prime Video, MGM+ and Freevee. Leading those activities will be company veteran Andrew Bennett.
After heading up Prime Video’s living room device partnership efforts since 2017, Bennett is now VP and head of global video partnerships for Prime Video, MGM+ (rebranding this month from Epix) and Freevee. He now reports to Kelly Day, VP of International at Prime Video, who joined the company last year from Paramount Global.
The move follows last fall’s revamp overseen by Prime Video and Amazon Studios SVP Mike Hopkins, which put studio chief Jennifer Salke in charge of MGM as well, while expanding the duties of MGM COO Chris Brearton. Amazon acquired MGM in 2021 for $8.45 billion.
The consolidation under Bennett will enable the video arm to leverage three distinct streaming video services in conversations with 200-plus living room device partners. Streaming and living-room technology, as it happens, are themes this week in Las Vegas during CES. Like many other tech players, Amazon has a presence at the annual trade show, which has returned this year with a more robustly in-person event after the Covid-altered 2021 and ’22 editions.
Amazon has been streaming video for more than a decade, but the company made significant progress in its efforts in 2022. Prime Video became the exclusive home of NFL Thursday Night Football as an 11-year rights deal took effect, at the same time that an expensive bet on The Lord of the Rings started to pay dividends in terms of viewership and critical acclaim. Freevee, the twice-rebranded free service with advertising, has continued to expand its presence via a more widely available stand-alone app and a burgeoning slate of originals and exclusives.
