With the second season of Rings of Power kicking off, fans of the show can expect another round of rhetoric around Prime Video’s handling of the source material, fan expectations, and detractors’ complaints; people who never watched it but decided to remain opposed to it. The surrounding conversations from all sides have been rather tiresome for those who just want to enjoy the show, but how is it actually performing, and does any of the conversation around the audience reaction to Rings of Power even matter to Amazon?

Uncertainty Around Rings of Power’s Performance

All the talk of how successful Rings of Power Season 1 actually was for the platform is a bit of a guessing game. Streaming has the advantage of often controlling the narrative around their original programs; we were told The Acolyte is a success. Amazon chooses what streaming information to give. For Rings of Power, we were told that 25 million tuned in for the premiere and that the season finale garnered 1.137 billion minutes viewed. You see the difference in delivering information? One Reddit user deducted that the minute stats boil down to about 13.9 million people, less than started.

Downturn in any show is natural, but according to Forbes, only 37% of people made it past the second episode. The article also called the show a massive flop. Why does the discourse from cast, crew, and Amazon remain positive? How is the second season going to fare with a budget estimated to be higher than the $465 million for Season 1 (via Yahoo Finance)? Reviews are ‘mostly’ positive, but there is enough negativity out there in the crowded space of streaming that it is hard to say how much of an effect that discourse has. In reality, there is a chance Amazon does not care whether the show succeeds.

Even if Rings of Power Is Failing, It Is Still a Win for Amazon

Luca Socci outlines financial revelations about Amazon and The Rings of Power in his article for Seeking Alpha. The article is somewhat speculative, given Amazon’s protection of its information as well as its overall operations. However, it makes clear that Amazon can weigh the success of the series with new Prime subscriptions and a boost to J.R.R Tolkien book sales. Both these points were touted in an interview with Deadline with Amazon’s Head of Global TV, Vernon Sanders. Is this just putting a good spin on a failed project? Maybe, but it also makes sense that this is a better measure of ‘success’ versus any critical or fan reactions.

This info was reflected in 2023 during a Q3 2022 earnings call with Brian Olsavsky (Amazon’s CFO), where he stated that the show drummed up more subscriptions to Prime Video than any other original. Whether the fans hated it or not, or even finished watching it, does not matter with that outcome. While the numbers may still not seem substantial enough to offset the cost of Rings of Power, besides owning the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, the biggest gain for Amazon is the type of new subscribers it brings in and their customer lifetime value (CLV). Essentially, younger subscribers have a higher retention rate and are also going to be alive longer to keep giving Amazon money.

Enjoy Rings of Power, or don’t, because it may still be a good investment, and Amazon is already benefiting through the financial model that has made them the giant they are today. Rings of Power is now streaming on Prime Video.