By Joe Flint 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (February 11, 2020).

Amazon.com Inc. has tapped a top Sony executive to oversee its entertainment operations.

Mike Hopkins, currently chairman of Sony Pictures Television and a former chief executive of the streaming platform Hulu, will join Amazon later this month as a senior vice president in charge of its Prime video platform and its movie and television studios, Amazon said Monday.

The entertainment business at Amazon had previously reported to Jeff Blackburn, a senior vice president who said last year that he would take a sabbatical in 2020 to spend more time with his family and return to the company next year.

Unlike Mr. Blackburn, who cut a wide swath at Amazon, Mr. Hopkins will initially have a smaller role. Mr. Blackburn, who has been with Amazon for more than two decades and is one of Chief Executive Jeff Bezos' key advisers, also supervised advertising and business development for the company.

Mr. Hopkins will split his time between Los Angeles and Amazon's Seattle headquarters and report to Mr. Bezos.

In Mr. Hopkins, Amazon gets an executive with a background running a streaming platform and a production entity. He is also well-versed in television distribution. Before his roles at Sony Corp. and Hulu, he was a senior executive at 21st Century Fox, where he ran distribution for its cable-network operations.

In a memo to staff, Mr. Blackburn said, "Mike comes to us with over 20 years of industry experience at Fox, Hulu, and Sony. He has an extensive track record as a global business leader in media, film and TV -- negotiating landmark content and distribution agreements, running marketing operations, leading product/tech teams, and overseeing production of breakthrough television content."

Jen Salke, the head of Amazon Studios, who had reported to Mr. Blackburn, will now report to Mr. Hopkins. The two were rising executives together at 21st Century Fox. Sony makes content for Amazon including "The Boys," which premiered last year and has become very successful on the platform. Sony is also working on a TV version of the movie "A League of Their Own" for Amazon.

Amazon's programming efforts have been mixed. The company has made some successful and critically acclaimed shows such as "Jack Ryan" and "Fleabag" but it is yet to have a hit the size of Netflix's "Stranger Things" or Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale."

Mr. Hopkins joined Sony in 2017. In a memo to staff, Sony Pictures Chairman Tony Vinciquerra said Keith LeGoy, president of world-wide distribution, and Jeff Frost, head of U.S. production, would now oversee the studio's TV operations.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 11, 2020 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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