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Amazon Affirms Video Strategy in Wake of Studio Head's Exit

Amazon to increase its video spending next year, affirming its content streaming strategy.

Amazon Affirms Video Strategy in Wake of Studio Head's Exit
An Amazon.Com Inc. Prime Video logo sits on display on the Sony Corp. stand on the second day of Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain. (Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. will increase its video spending next year, affirming its content streaming strategy after the head of its movie and TV studio resigned following allegations of sexual misconduct toward a female producer.

Amazon carefully monitors data about which programs resonate most with Prime subscribers -- the company’s most loyal shoppers -- so it can make adjustments, Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said Thursday on an investor earnings call.

“We’re going to continue to invest in video and increase that investment in 2018,” Olsavsky said, adding that customers who watch Amazon Video also spend more on the e-commerce website.

Amazon is projected to spend about $4.5 billion on video this year.

Amazon Studios chief Roy Price resigned earlier this month after Isa Hackett, producer of “The Man in the High Castle,” accused Price of harassing her while they attended a convention in San Diego in 2015. While the allegation had been previously reported, she described the incident in detail to the Hollywood Reporter. She said she was inspired to tell her story by the many women who came forward with accusations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

To contact the reporter on this story: Spencer Soper in Seattle at ssoper@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Andrew Pollack

©2017 Bloomberg L.P.