Amazon appoints Sony’s Hopkins as video business head

Amazon has hired Sony Pictures Television chairman and former Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins to oversee its video entertainment businesses — including Prime Video and its movie and television unit Amazon Studios.

Hopkins is set to join Amazon on February 24 and will report directly to CEO Jeff Bezos.

Hopkins joined Sony in 2017 after spending four years as CEO of Hulu.

Hopkins will assume the entertainment duties that were overseen by Jeff Blackburn, Amazon’s senior vice president of business and corporate development.

Jennifer Salke, the head of Amazon Studios, and Greg Hart, vice president of Amazon Video, will now report to Hopkins.

Blackburn, who is responsible for a number of businesses at Amazon, is currently taking a sabbatical. He is one of the longest-serving executives at the company and his name is often mentioned as a possible candidate to succeed Bezos, should he choose to step down.

Sony will not replace Hopkins’ role at the company, but will instead distribute some of his duties to Keith LeGoy, president of worldwide distribution, and Jeff Frost, president of U.S. Production.

LeGoy will now oversee Funimation and Sony’s network operations, programming and strategy group. Frost will now lead First Run Television, Embassy Row and the new game show development team run by Mike Richards.

Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Tony Vinciquerra said: “I want to thank Mike for his outstanding leadership since arriving at the studio in late 2017. From day one he was charged with rethinking the way we run our television businesses. Under his watch, SPT has been transformed into a stronger and more nimble organization, able to pivot and change course quickly in today’s rapidly evolving entertainment landscape.”