Amazon MGM Studios Puts 'Rings Of Power' & 'Citadel' On Sale For Syndication

May 26, 2025

Amazon MGM Studios and its Distribution division led by Chris Ottinger are putting The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and its Citadel shows up for sale via syndication.

Alongside The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and Citadel, the streamer will also be attempting to syndicate two other shows that will arrive on Amazon later this year: Countdown and Butterfly. A report from Variety indicates Amazon will make these two shows available to syndicate 18 months after their first season ends.

As for The Rings of Power, Ottinger says he wants top dollar for the show, “We would want premium pricing because it’s a premium product. Season 1 of ‘The Rings of Power’was the biggest TV series premiere in the history of Prime Video and Season Two was the most-watched returning season ever on Prime Video at the time. Ultimately, it depends on the partner and where they plan to place it. If someone wants it for Thursday at 8 p.m. — a prime slot — I expect top dollar.”

He noted that the company had seen neutral to positive performance since the company began syndicating some of its titles back in 2023, “We brought premium library titles to market to test their performance on Prime Video while they also aired on third-party platforms. One of the goals was to see if they’d benefit from a Netflix-style boost or if they’d end up cannibalizing our own viewership. The effect we saw was neutral to positive for Prime Video.”

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The fact that both The Rings of Power and Citadel are going up for sale indicates that these shows likely did not perform as well as Amazon MGM Studios hoped they would have performed on their Prime Video streaming service. To that point, Amazon scrapped a number of Citadel spin-offs in April including Citadel: Honey Bunny and Citadel: Diana.

Amazon MGM Studios Head of Television Vernon Sanders said, “Having successfully traversed India and Italy, storylines from both Citadel: Honey Bunny and Citadel: Diana will be woven into the upcoming second season of the mothership series Citadel.”

“While these successful and widely enjoyed international chapters will not continue as individual series, Season 2 of Citadel will be our most exhilarating yet. With high-stakes storytelling, new additions to our amazing cast and bold, cinematic ambition, the new season will deepen the emotional journeys of Nadia, Mason and Orlick against the relentless force that is Manticore. We’re excited to share what’s next when Citadel Season 2 premieres globally in Q2 of 2026,” he added.

Additionally, in March it was reported that the company put plans for other Citadel spinoffs in locations like Mexico on hold.

Concerning The Rings of Power, the show has bled viewership during both its first and second seasons. Back in April 2023, Kim Masters at The Hollywood Reporter reported that 63% of people who watched part of the first season in the United States did not finish it.

She wrote, “While Amazon, like other streamers, provides only limited data — and internally, it held information even more closely than usual on the series — sources confirm that The Rings of Power had a 37 percent domestic completion rate (customers who watched the entire series).”

For those outside the United States, the completion rate was higher. Masters shared, “Overseas, it reached 45 percent. (A 50 percent completion rate would be a solid but not spectacular result, according to insiders).”

That report would appear to bear fruit as multiple data analytics companies noted that Season 2 viewership was much lower than Season 1.

Samba TV reported that viewership in the United States for the Season 2 premiere declined by nearly 50% compared to the Season 1 premiere.

In September 2022, the firm reported that the show’s Season 1 premiere attracted 1.8 million U.S. households.

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At the beginning of September following the Season 2 premiere it reported that only 902,000 U.S. households watched. That’s a decline of 49.8%.

It was not just Samba TV either. As noted by X user NowItsKnown, Nielsen reported back in 2022 that the show’s two-episode premiere raked in 1.253 billion minutes watched.

With the Season 2 three-episode premiere it only brought in 1.015 billion minutes watched.

If you do a simple calculation where you divide the total minutes watched by the total run time, it gives you 9.4 million for the first season and 4.9 million views for the second season. That’s a decline of 47%.

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That trend continued with the season finales as well. The week the Season 2 finale aired saw the show’s total minutes only bring in about half of the week when the Season 1 finale aired.

The Season 1 finale brought in 1.137 billion minutes watched while the Season 2 finale only did 527 million minutes watched. That’s a decline of 53.6%.

Amazon did renew the show for a third season in February. It announced, “Prime Video confirms season three of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Acclaimed directors Charlotte Brändström, Sanaa Hamri, and Stefan Schwartz set for upcoming season.”

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Sanders said of the renewal at the time, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power continues to captivate audiences worldwide, and we're thrilled that a third season is underway. The creative team has an extraordinary vision of what’s to come with stories that have left us enchanted and enthralled.”

He added, “We look forward to continuing this epic journey, for our global customers, delving even deeper into the legendary tales that shaped Middle-earth.”