When was Freevee launched? Amazon shutting down its ad-supported video streaming service
Amazon's ad-supported free video streaming service, Freevee, is all set to shut down. According to a Deadline report published on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, the e-commerce giant announced that its Freevee platform would be phased out over the coming weeks. The shows, which were available on the platform, have already moved to Prime Video.
Freevee shows will stay in front of the Prime Video paywall and be available to non-prime members. There are no planned layoffs reported for the Freevee phase-out. Originally launched in 2019 as IMDb Freedive, the platform was eventually rebranded as IMDb TV, Freevee, and later, Amazon Freevee.
Amazon plans on phasing out Freevee
In January 2019, Amazon launched IMDb Freedive, its first-ever ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) service, under its subsidiary, IMDb. In June of the same year, the platform was rebranded to IMDb TV before being known as Freevee.
Despite being housed under the Amazon MGM Studios group, producers could still pitch ideas for shows on the platform. Over the years, the platform has released its fair share of hits like Jury Duty, High School, Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis and Primo, Judy Justice, Neighbours, Tribunal Justice, Bosch: Legacy, and America's Test Kitchen: The Next Generation.
Jury Duty, in particular, was a huge hit for the streaming service, taking home four Emmy nominations. However, the future looked bleak for the streaming service once it was announced late last year that Prime Video would introduce ads by default on January 29 of this year.
This prompted several rumors regarding the future of the multinational technology company's AVOD streaming service. A February 21 report from Adweek claimed that the e-commerce giant was going to Sunset the streaming service in the second quarter of 2024.
However, the e-commerce giant denied the speculations in a statement to Variety at the time, denying the possibility of any new changes to their AVOD service. The statement read:
"Amazon Freevee remains an important streaming offering providing both Prime and non-Prime customers thousands of hit movies, shows, and originals, all for free."
Despite the initial assurance, Deadline reported on Tuesday that the e-commerce giant would be phasing out their AVOD streaming platform over the upcoming weeks. The move was speculated when it was announced that Freevee shows like the final season of Bosch: Legacy, the debut season of The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh, and more were made available on Prime Video.
Freevee live FAST [free, ad-supported streaming TV] channels became Fire TV's Prime Video Channels. In the future, Freevee content will be available in the 'Watch for Free' section of Prime Video's detail pages. As mentioned, viewers of current and older shows on the soon-to-be-defunct AVOD streaming platform will receive access to them on Prime Video without being a Prime customer.
In a statement to Variety, the e-commerce giant spokesperson said the company built Prime Video into a personalized "first-stop entertainment destination." This was done by including Amazon MGM Studios content, licensed movies and shows, add-on subscription content, live sports, content to rent and buy, FAST channels, and Freevee content on the platform. The representative stated:
"To deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers, we have decided to phase out Freevee branding."
The spokesperson further explained:
"There will be no change to the content available for Prime members, and a vast offering of free streaming content will still be accessible for non-Prime members, including select originals from Amazon MGM Studios, a variety of licensed movies and series, and a broad library of FAST channels — all available on Prime Video."
Deadline reported that Freevee's business team is part of Prime Video, and its content team has already become integrated into Amazon MGM Studios. The publication added that no layoffs were expected from the restructuring. Countries that used to have Freevee - the US, the UK, Germany, and Austria - will now get the same free content on Prime Video.