Amazon Spent $16.6 Billion on Content in 2022

In its annual report filed with the SEC today, Amazon revealed it spent $16.6 billion on music and video content in 2022, up from $13 billion in 2021, Variety is reporting.

The e-commerce giant’s content spending jumped 28% last year, thanks to pricey deals like NFL’s Thursday Night Football and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

The Lord of the Rings Season 1 had an estimated production budget of $450 million, whereas the NFL deal is costing Amazon about $1 billion per year.

Similarly, Amazon Music also increased the number of songs available as part of Prime from 2 million previously to its full catalog of 100 million tracks.

Amazon also revealed that The Rings of Power was the most-watched original series worldwide, generating more than 24 billion minutes of streaming.

For the 2022 NFL season, Thursday Night Football viewership up 11% from the prior season, according to Nielsen.

Amazon also closed the acquisition of MGM last year, a deal valued at $8.5 billion.