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  • Amazon names Doug Herrington as CEO of worldwide Amazon Stores

    Amazon names Doug Herrington as CEO of worldwide Amazon Stores

    MUMBAI: Tech giant Amazon has announced that Doug Herrington will become the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the company’s Worldwide Amazon Stores business, formerly known as “Worldwide Consumer”.

    Herrington is replacing Dave Clark who is leaving the US retailer after 23 years to join logistics firm Flexport as its chief executive officer. Clark’s last day at Amazon is on 1 July.

    Making the announcement recently, the CEO Andy Jassy wrote in a message to the company, “Doug has been at Amazon for 17 years. He joined the company in 2005 to build out our consumables business, launched AmazonFresh in 2007, and in 2015, took on leading all of our North American consumer business. Doug and I have worked together on S-team since 2011. He is a builder of great teams and brings substantial retail, grocery, demand generation, product development, and Amazon experience to bear. He’s also a terrific inventor for customers, thinks big, has a thoughtful vision around how category management and ops can work well together, is a unifier, is highly curious, and an avid learner. I think Doug will do great things for customers and employees alike, and I look forward to working with him in this leadership role.”

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    He further added that as part of this organisational change, the operations organisation will be united under a single leader, John Felton. “John has been at Amazon for nearly 18 years, spending 12 years in Retail & Operations finance leadership roles. In 2018, John moved to Worldwide Operations to become the vice president of Global Customer Fulfillment; and in 2019, he took over the newly formed Global Delivery Services group, encompassing global import/export, Amazon Logistics, and our last-mile delivery services. He joined S-team in September, 2020. John has strong end-to-end knowledge of our fulfillment network, operates with an important mix of strategic thinking and a command of the details that matter most in our network, is right a lot, and is a strong team builder who is dedicated to making Amazon a great place to work for our employees.”

    Felton will report to Herrington, as will Russ Grandinetti (International Stores), Christine Beauchamp (North America Stores), Tony Hoggett (Physical Stores), Dave Treadwell (eCommerce Foundation), Neil Lindsay (Pharmacy/AmazonCare/Healthcare), Dharmesh Mehta (Selling Partner Services), Peter Larsen (Buy with Prime), and Pat Bajari (Chief Economist), the company stated.

    Adding that he remains optimistic about the e-tailer’s stores business, Jassy said he believes they are still in the early days of “what’s possible”.

    It’s worth remembering that Amazon currently only represents about one percent of the worldwide retail market segment share, and 85 percent of that worldwide market segment share still resides in physical stores, he further noted.

    “If you believe that equation will change over time (which I do), there’s a lot of potential for us as we continue to be laser-focused on providing the best customer experience (broadest selection, low prices, fast and convenient delivery) while working on our cost structure to have the right long-term business,” Jassy concluded.

  • NCLAT dismisses Amazon’s appeal against suspension of transaction with Future Group

    NCLAT dismisses Amazon’s appeal against suspension of transaction with Future Group

    MUMBAI: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has dismissed Amazon’s appeal against the suspension of transaction with Future Group, and upheld the Rs 200 crore penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). It has directed the US-based e-commerce major to pay the amount within 45 days. Amazon can challenge the NCLAT order in the Supreme Court.

    Last week, the NCLT adjourned the hearing of Amazon’s petition opposing the initiation of insolvency proceedings against debt-ridden Future Retail during a virtual hearing in the matter.

    Earlier, this year in January, US giant Amazon Holdings NV had moved the NCLAT against the CCI. Its case is against CCI’s 17 December where the anti-trust watchdog had suspended and revoked its approval for the deal with Future Group alleging misrepresentation.

    As per the anti-trust watchdog’s 17 December order, Amazon was fined Rs 202 crore by CCI for allegedly misrepresenting and suppressing information while seeking regulatory approval in 2019 to buy a stake in Future Group.

    The move followed a Delhi High Court judgement on 5 January that suspended Amazon’s arbitration proceedings in Singapore against estranged partner Future Group for contract violations, giving the debt-ridden Indian retailer a reprieve.

    The high court had pushed the arbitration proceedings owing to the CCI order. As per the CCI’s 57-page order, it said that the approval for the Amazon -Future deal would be kept in abeyance.

  • Michael De Luca, Pam Abdy to head Warner Bros. Pictures Group; Toby Emmerich steps down

    Michael De Luca, Pam Abdy to head Warner Bros. Pictures Group; Toby Emmerich steps down

    Mumbai: Former MGM film executives Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy have been appointed co-chairpersons and CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures Group. They replaced longtime studio executive Toby Emmerich who has announced that he is stepping down as Warner Bros. head.

    Each of the divisions including Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, DC-Based Film Production, and Warner Bros. Feature Animation will break into three distinct segments – Warner Bros. Pictures/New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Feature Animation, and DC-Based Film Production. Each will have its own separate leadership. 

    The decision is part of the company’s new long-term strategy. In the meanwhile, the segments are still managed by the film group, with De Luca and Abdy in charge of day-to-day operations. De Luca and Abdy were MGM Studios’ motion picture group chairman and president, respectively. They decided to leave after Amazon acquired MGM.

    Simultaneously, Toby Emmerich will launch his own production company at Warner Bros. studio, focused on film, television and streaming. Warner Bros. Discovery will finance Emmerich’s ventures and hold distribution rights to films & series as part of an exclusive five-year deal.

    Screenwriter and producer Emmerich has been president and chief content officer of Warner Bros. Pictures Group since 2017. Previously, he served as president and chief operating officer of New Line Cinema. He joined Warner Bros. in 1992 as a dual development and music executive and has worked there for the past 30 years.

    In a statement, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said, “I have known Toby for many years and have tremendous respect for his vision and ability to create extraordinary cinematic experiences. He has led a best-in-class studio team and was the driving force behind an incredible, diverse collection of films and series. Toby is also an exceptional person and longtime friend to me and to many and I am personally very happy to continue our working relationship. I am thrilled that he’s chosen to remain a part of our Warner Bros. Discovery family with this long-term production deal and look forward to seeing the fantastic stories that he and his team will create for us in the years ahead.” 

    Speaking about his venture, Emmerich said, “It has been an honour and a pleasure to be part of this storied company these last three decades and to lead the world-class Warner Bros. film studio team, and I am incredibly proud of what we have been able to accomplish together. This seemed like the perfect time to transition to something new and I am excited to be pursuing my passion for storytelling in a more hands-on way with my own production company.” 

    Further, on the newly appointed co-chairpersons and CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, Zaslav said, “Michael and Pam are supremely talented creative leaders with a proven track record of success. We are thrilled to welcome them both to our Warner Bros. Discovery family, and look forward to seeing them take this nearly century-old iconic studio to even greater heights of excellence in film.”

    With a global box office collection of $5.57 billion in 2018, Warner Bros. Pictures Group achieved its most successful year ever under Emmerich’s leadership.

    Films such as “Aquaman” – the most popular DC Superhero film ever and Warner Bros’. second-biggest title of all time – “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” “Ready Player One,” “The Meg,” “Rampage,” “A Star is Born,” “The Nun,” and “Crazy Rich Asians,” helped Emmerich fuel this success. Also, the studio in 2019 delivered the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, DC’s “Joker,” which grossed $1.08 billion worldwide and won two Academy Awards, as well as the horror sequel “IT Chapter Two.”

  • Jubilant FoodWorks onboards Sameer Khetarpal as CEO & managing director

    Jubilant FoodWorks onboards Sameer Khetarpal as CEO & managing director

    Mumbai: Food service company Jubilant Food Works Limited (JFL) announced on Monday the appointment of Sameer Khetarpal as chief executive officer and managing director of the company. Khetarpal will succeed Pratik Pota effective from 5 September 2022, the company said in a statement.

    He joined Jubilant from Amazon, a company where he had been working for six and half years, during which time he conceptualized, launched and scaled several business units like Amazon Fresh, Amazon Pharmacy and Amazon Food.

    Before joining Amazon, Khetarpala worked as a partner at McKinsey and company, where he helped tech companies build their businesses and transform themselves into digital enterprises. He was instrumental in building data-driven service lines used by several fortune 500 companies. He has previously worked with GE Capital and Hindustan Unilever.

    Speaking on the appointment, Jubilant FoodWorks chairman Shyam S. Bhartia and co-chairman Hari S. Bhartia said, “We are now a multi-country, multi-brand company with deep investments in technology. We are looking to further our investments across our portfolio of brands to become a food tech powerhouse. Sameer, with his strengths in building digital first businesses in related spaces will provide the necessary leadership to our business. He is a strong, dynamic and values-driven leader with an impressive track record of delivering consistent high-quality performance in tough consumer businesses.”

    On his new role, Khetarpal said, “As India’s largest food service company, JFL is uniquely poised to scale non-linearly across multiple businesses and geographies. The company has an exceptional track record of innovation and serving customers with exemplary standards. I am honoured to join Jubilant FoodWorks and look forward to working closely with the Jubilant team, to serve millions of customers by building businesses driven by technology and operations excellence.”

    Incorporated in 1995, JFL holds the exclusive master franchise rights from Domino’s Pizza to develop and operate the brand in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal. In India, JFL has a network of 1,567 Domino’s restaurants across 337 cities.

  • UK SVoD growth up; people spending more time on streaming platforms: Omdia’s Research

    UK SVoD growth up; people spending more time on streaming platforms: Omdia’s Research

    Mumbai: According to a research report released recently at Connected TV World Summit, Omdia’s senior director Maria Rua Aguete said, “The number of people paying for video services in the UK has increased 11 per cent over the last year and quarter on quarter since April 2021.”

    According to Aguete, despite the UK cost of living crisis, UK people are tending to spend more and certainly no less in streaming video services. In terms of dealing with rising costs, consumers prefer to cut other expenses than their own home entertainment in order to deal with the rising cost. As the survey reveals, cuts in other spending has allowed them to subscribe to extra services.

    Currently, the average UK household has 2.6 pay subscription services at home, 2 Svod services and 0.6 Pay TV. Although the churn rate has increased significantly in the last 12 months.

    Despite Netflix results showing a decline in global subscriptions (200,000 in Q1 2022), Netflix remains the UK’s favourite video service. It is also still the most popular SVOD service in the domestic market, the USA.

    80 per cent of households in the UK have an online subscription. YouTube and BBC iPlayer tops the chart as most favourite online video services in the UK followed by Netflix. Netflix’s Svod service is still in the race with 15.5 million subscribers.

    Other most popular services in the UK are: Amazon Prime Video with 10 million subscriptions and Disney Plus with 7.5 million subscriptions.

    Churn has increased significantly in the last 12 months:

    45 per cent more subscription video services were cancelled in the last 12 months, while overall there were 20 percent more consumers cancelling their services compared to last year, but counteracting this trend, the number of services cancelled and re-subscribed to in the last 12 months has grown by 84 per cent meaning that although more people are churning, more people are subsequently resubscribing with 50 per cent more re-subscribers in the UK now.

    According to the reports, online video subscriptions will reach 2 billion in 2027. The biggest growth in the last six months comes from: Disney, Now TV, Netflix and Amazon Prime with 21 percent, 18 percent, 8 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.

    Those with four streaming video services per home are the ones churning less than those who took more than seven SVOD services are among the highest churners.

    Looking forward, Omdia expects that Netflix, currently in the lead in the streaming video race (Q1 2022), will still lead in five years’ time (2026) Aguete adds: “With the lowest churn rate across all streaming video services and highest lifetime value per customer, Netflix will continue and surpass Disney by 2026.”

  • Amazon Prime Video invests $ 1.2 billion in TV, movies and live sport in UK

    Amazon Prime Video invests $ 1.2 billion in TV, movies and live sport in UK

    MUMBAI: Amazon’s streaming service Prime Video has announced that it invested more than £1 billion ($ 1.2 billion) in TV, movies, and live sport in the UK since 2018. 

    This includes spending on UK Amazon Original series like Clarkson’s Farm; licensed series like Soho Theatre Live and investment in movies like “Paddington 2”; co-productions on flagship British series like A Very English Scandal; as well as investment in live sport.

    “It was important to bring people together at Prime Video Presents to not only showcase our brilliant upcoming shows and movies, but to demonstrate how committed we are to the U.K. in the long term,” explained Chris Bird, managing director Prime Video UK.

    “We’ve spent a long time building a service that offers customers a variety of ways to access the TV shows and movies they love–either included as part of their subscription, as an add-on channel or being able to rent or buy at a low price. We have invested more than £1 billion on TV series, movies, and live sport since 2018. But it’s just as important that we’re investing in the U.K.’s world-leading production and creative industries, with a growing number of U.K. Originals; through a £10 million commitment to training and skills schemes; and by taking a long-term lease at Shepperton Studios,” he said as quoted in an international publication.

    Prime Video also announced the creation of a new fund designed to support British women’s tennis. Prime Video will work with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to help girls and young women overcome barriers to play, with a focus on three key areas: coaching, equipment, and environment. The fund was generated from the broadcast share of last year’s US Open final. Further details will follow later in the year.

    “When we committed to reinvesting the fees generated from the US Open final, it was important for us to take the time to fully understand the existing barriers that girls and young women face when playing tennis. We need to ensure that we are helping to foster the right environment in which girls can feel empowered to play and learn the sport. Our work with the LTA has helped us take huge strides in this area and this fund will directly tackle these barriers later this year” said Prime Video Europe managing director-Live Sport Alex Green.

    Investment in new UK-produced Prime Video series

    Prime Video’s investment in UK content continues with the announcement of new UK Originals, including “Fifteen-Love”, a scripted drama from UK producers World Productions, which is a part of ITV Studios. It explores the dangerous lines where personal and professional relationships collide, set amid the glamorous cut-and-thrust world of elite tennis. The story examines themes of power, sex, and ambition, within an international sporting industry worth over $2 billion.      

    Prime Video unveiled a raft of UK Amazon Original series, including two new true-crime series. The first, The Disappearance of Patricia Hall (working title) from ITN Productions, is the chilling, real-life story of the disappearance of Patricia Hall from a small town in Yorkshire and the subsequent investigation in which her husband, Keith Hall, appeared to admit to her murder before questions were raised about the reliability of his “confession.”

    Three Mothers (working title) is a new three-part series from Scottish independent production company Firecrest Films. Set in the wild west days of the infancy of the internet, it tells the gripping real-life story of three women who all found themselves in the middle of an unbelievable series of events that captured the world’s attention. Director Alice McMahon-Major, producer Zehra Yas, and executive producers Nicole Kleeman and Vari Innes bring this powerful story, told through firsthand testimony, along with a wealth of extraordinary archive material spanning two continents and decades.

    “Ben Stokes: Phoenix from the Ashes” sees the new England cricket captain discuss the highs and lows of his record-breaking career with Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes ‘1917’ in a new UK Amazon Original documentary. Produced by Whisper, the film tells the story of Stokes’ phenomenal career, examining his World Cup triumph and heroics at the Headingley crease, as well as the lows which saw him take time away from the game and came at a huge personal cost. The film’s crew captured Ben’s most personal and challenging moments, including the final visit to see his terminally ill father and his struggles with mental health. Ben explores this journey on-screen with cricket fanatic Mendes, who also executive produces the film. “Ben Stokes: Phoenix from the Ashes” will launch worldwide exclusively on Prime Video later this year, and the official trailer is also released today.

    “We have supercharged Prime Video’s UK slate with a diverse range of high-quality, distinctive programmes across documentary, drama, comedy, entertainment, and film. It’s such a thrill seeing the slate grow in partnership with some of the UK’s most talented creatives, from first-time creators to legends of British television” said Amazon Studios head UK Originals Dan Grabiner.

  • Anuradha Aggarwal joins Amazon as CMO and director of user growth

    Anuradha Aggarwal joins Amazon as CMO and director of user growth

    Mumbai: Anuradha Agarwal has joined Amazon as CMO and director of user growth, according to her LinkedIn profile update. She was previously associated with Disney Star India as cluster head of kids, infotainment and English channels.

    In a career spanning almost two decades, Aggarwal has experience across FMCG, telecom and broadcast sectors in India and South Asia. Prior to joining Star TV Network, she was associated with Marico as chief marketing officer. She has also had stints at Mondelez International, Vodafone India (Vodafone Idea), and Unilever.

    She is an alumnus of Sri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University and PGDBM in marketing management from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

  • Supertails partners with Amazon Prime Video to promote the Tamil film ‘Oh My Dog’

    Supertails partners with Amazon Prime Video to promote the Tamil film ‘Oh My Dog’

    The digital petcare platform Supertails has partnered with Amazon Prime Video for the OTT launch of the Tamil film Oh My Dog, starring Arun Vijay and his son Arnav Vijay.

    As part of the film promotion campaign, the brand has roped in 25 influencers on Instagram, who are mainly pet parents. The campaign has received a good response on social media, clocking more than 500,000 views on YouTube, while clocking 71,000 impressions on Instagram.

    The campaign film shows a glimpse of the movie, which celebrates the bonding between Arnav and his dog named ‘Simba’, a pet and a child who find their way through an adventure together.

    The brand takes this message a step further by organizing pet adoption drives across Chennai, Bangalore, Madurai, and Coimbatore.

    Supertails is the first of its kind of brand which caters to the pet care needs of young people in the country and provides one-stop solutions for pet food and supplies and trustworthy online vet consultation and dog training.

    As a brand that understands the bond within a pet family, Supertails finds itself as the petcare partner that facilitates the love and care a pet parent provides for their pet.

    Being highly enthusiastic about the occasion, Supertails co-founder Varun Sadana said, “we are super excited to collaborate with Amazon Prime Video to promote the beautiful bond between a pet and a child.”

    “The movie, Oh My Dog! shows the essence of what it is to be a pet parent in a story of friendship, loyalty and unconditional love. As a brand, and more importantly as a pet parent myself, I think this film is important to celebrate stories of the bond. We have gone all out to promote the film with pet adoption drives that include medical check-ups, behavior evaluation, vaccination, and a starter kit for new pet parents,” he added.

  • Amazon Prime Video announces its biggest content slate for India

    Amazon Prime Video announces its biggest content slate for India

    Mumbai: Amazon Prime Video is all set to launch its biggest content slate in India. The streaming major on Thursday announced over 40 new titles in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, across original series, original films and co-productions that it plans for over the next twenty-four months.

    Prime Video also announced its foray into original film production in India with films in Hindi and Telugu, to be released directly on the servics and new multi-year licensing deals and co-productions with some of India’s biggest and most successful studios.

    The service recently completed five years of service in India, and announced that it will more than doubling its investment in Prime Video India over the next five years.

    The upcoming Amazon Originals will enthral customers by offering a wide gamut of genres, ranging from cutting-edge thrillers, high-octane action, engaging dramas to light-hearted comedies and heart-warming romances. The service is augmenting its original programming for young adult audiences, and also exploring genres like supernatural and horror for the first time in its India journey. Furthermore, Prime Video is enhancing the scope of its unscripted series catalogue to explore genres like biographies, true-crime and investigative docu-dramas.

    Prime Video aims to be a home for talent. It is working with a wide set of diverse creators with unique, cinematic voices from across the country. Almost 70 per cent of the new upcoming titles will feature new talent – both in front of and behind the camera.

    After launching Prime Video Channels last year, in another significant step towards creating a video entertainment marketplace, Amazon also launched Prime Video Store, its transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) film rental service in India. Customers can now get early access to the latest Indian and international films, including a rich catalogue of popular films from around the world on a transactional (per-film) basis.

    Prime Video’s customer footprint is set to expand even further as the TVOD rental service will be available to all Prime members, as well as, anyone who isn’t a Prime member. Customers will get early rental access to movies across languages and the rental service can be accessed via the store tab on and the Prime Video app, said the statement.

    Commenting on this, Amazon Prime Video India country head Gaurav Gandhi said, “In the last five years, we have built a strong slate of locally produced content across languages, super-serving the diverse entertainment needs of Indian customers.  With increased access and distribution, we have helped these great stories travel far and wide in India, and around the world. We have played a key role in helping expand the linguistic palette of Indian customers, thereby, increasing the audience base for creators and talent.”

    “Prime Video India today sees viewership from 99 per cent of the country’s pin-codes. India continues to be one of Prime Video’s fastest-growing & most engaged locale globally. We are humbled by the love we have received from our consumers and continue to be deeply committed to delighting our customers with great content, while also fuelling the creative economy,” he added.

    Speaking about the multi-pronged approach on expanding the movies segment in India, Gandhi added, “In tune with our vision to become the most-loved entertainment hub, we have steadily innovated in the way we offer movies to our consumers, from offering films in a post-theatrical early-window to direct-to-service premieres bringing the most anticipated films to consumers’ living rooms and preferred devices. We are deeply committed to grow this segment further and are going bigger on our film licensing partnerships, expanding our co-production initiatives and are now excited to announce our foray into original movies. In addition to our investments in great content, we are super excited about the launch of our TVOD film rental service, that will not just give even more expanded reach to these films but also give customers more choice in how they want to access and watch content.”

    Elaborating on the expansive content slate, Amazon Prime Video head of India originals Aparna Purohit said, “Our mission has been to tell compelling, authentic and rooted stories that not just connect with audiences in India but resonate with audiences across the world. We feel humbled that the characters of our shows and films have inspired new archetypes, blazed a new trail, and in fact, become a part of the cultural zeitgeist. As we move forward, we are excited to partner with some of the most prolific creators to bring forth powerful stories across different formats, genres and languages for our customers. We are confident that our upcoming slate of shows and films will transcend all barriers of language, nationality or formats.”