Amazon has announced that it will be shutting down its free, ad-supported streaming platform, Freevee. The platform is home to a lot of original shows, along with over 100 originals from the Prime Video roster. Freevee will bid adieu over the course of the next few weeks, but there is good news.
All Freevee users will now be redirected to Prime Video. In regions where Freevee is available: the US, the UK, Germany, etc., users will be able to watch Freevee"s free content, such as Jury Duty, Bosch: Legacy, Neighbours, Alex Rider, etc., on Prime Video, under the "Watch for Free" label. The ad-supported platform of Prime Video is included as a part of Amazon"s Prime membership for $15/month.
Amazon spokesperson told Variety,
To deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers, we have decided to phase out Freevee branding. 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.
Amazon launched Freevee ad-supported video-on-demand service in January 2019, which was initially branded as "IMDb Freedive." Later, it was rebranded as "IMDb TV" in June 2019 and eventually became "Freevee" in April 2022. Now, the platform is set to shut down.
Rumors about the Freevee"s closure were mothballed earlier this year when Amazon introduced ads to Prime Video. Now that both Freevee and Prime Video offer similar ad-supported tiers, it seemed inevitable that one would be discontinued, with Freevee ultimately being the one to close.
Since Freevee"s content is already merged with Amazon MGM Studio and Prime Video, Amazon isn"t expected to lay off any of the Freevee staff, at least for the time being. It remains unclear whether or not Freevee"s free content will eventually be available on Prime Video in other countries.