EXCLUSIVE: Amazon is looking to redefine its unscripted television strategy under new leadership.
Deadline understands that Lauren Anderson, who previously oversaw unscripted television, has officially moved out of the television team and will focus full-time on a new, brand-funded role.
Anderson was named Head, Brand and Content Innovation in May 2024 and tasked with managing Amazon MGM Studios’ collaboration with brands as they partner on its originals. However, she kept oversight of the unscripted television team, as well as, at the time, its AVOD programming team, which was ostensibly folded into the wider group after the company shuttered Freevee, its free, ad-supported service, in November 2024.
She will now officially move over to Amazon Ads Brand Innovation Lab on a full-time basis as Director. While she did a similar job across Amazon MGM Studios for the last year and a half, she will now also work across Amazon Music, Twitch, Alexa, Fire TV and the Amazon store.
As Head, Brand and Content Innovation, Anderson worked with Amazon’s video advertising sales teams on advertising sponsorships, integrations, custom content, and brand-supported originals. At last year’s Content London, she said, the company was “looking to build up muscle around having ads inside of content and we’re happy with product placement”.
Her move into the labs division, which is led by Kate McCagg, means that former Netflix executive Peter Friedlander, who took over as head of global television last month following the departure of Vernon Sanders, will now put his own stamp on its unscripted television strategy.
Friedlander is likely to either bring in an external candidate to oversee the division or promote from within. Friedlander spent 14 years at Netflix and while he was purely on the scripted television side, he worked with a raft of unscripted executives at the streamer over that period so may be inclined to bring in a former colleague or conduct a sector-wide search.
Friedlander also oversees MGM Alternative TV, the division that is behind series such as CBS’ Survivor and NBC’s The Voice and owns On Patrol: Live producer Big Fish Entertainment and Vanderpump Rules producer Evolution Media. This unit, which is led by Barry Poznick, previously sat under Brad Beale, who is Head of Global Content Licensing and Distribution, following the departure of Chris Brearton, who was VP PVS Corporate Strategy, MGM+ and MGM Alternative Television, but was moved under Vernon Sanders’ purview in September.
There have been a lot of questions over Amazon’s unscripted strategy in recent years. It has largely failed to create any sizeable hits outside of Prime Video’s Beast Games, which was renewed for two more seasons after becoming the streamer’s most-watched unscripted show.
One of its other notable recent series – Pop Culture Jeopardy!, hosted by Colin Jost – just moved to Netflix for its second season, and the future of its game show block, which also includes the Travis Kelce-hosted Are You Smarter Than A Celebrity?, JB Smoove-fronted Buy It Now and Wish List Games, is unclear.
Meanwhile, a number of Amazon unscripted execs moved over to Netflix over the last year including its head of unscripted series Jenny Falkoff and head of docuseries Alysia Russo.
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