NBC’s Jennifer Salke Becomes Head of Amazon Studios

Jennifer Salke, the president of NBC Entertainment, has been tapped for the top job at Amazon Studios, which has been vacant since the departure of Roy Price.

Salke has been serving as president of NBC Entertainment since July 2011, responsible for comedy development, drama development, current programming, casting and diversity programming initiatives for NBC, as well as the entirety of Universal Television operations, which includes parallel divisions of development, programming and casting. In January 2018, she added oversight of business affairs and production for scripted programming to her purview. Prior to joining NBC Entertainment, Salke served as executive VP of creative affairs at Twentieth Century Fox Television, a post she held since 2006. 

In her new role at Amazon Studios, Salke will oversee all TV and film production for the digital giant’s entertainment arm. She reports to Jeff Blackburn, Amazon’s senior VP of business development and digital entertainment.

“What stood out about Jen was the deep relationships she has nurtured with creators and talent over her career, spanning NBCU, Twentieth Century Fox and Aaron Spelling Productions,” said Blackburn. “She’s built an impeccable reputation as a big leader who emphasizes creativity, collaboration, and teamwork.”

“I’m incredibly excited about the future at Amazon Studios,” Salke said. “In the studio’s relatively short existence they have innovated, disrupted, and created characters that are already an indelible part of pop culture. I am both honored and emboldened by the opportunity to lead this extraordinary business. Of course, this is also bittersweet for me. NBC has been an amazing home—creatively, professionally and personally—and I leave there knowing that the work we did had groundbreaking impact. It’s an exciting time to be a content creator, and I look forward to being on the front lines of an innovative business with storytelling at its heart.”