Freevee, the ad-supported video streaming service owned by Amazon is getting shut down. The service was available in the U.S, U.K., Germany and Austria and was originally launched under the IMDb brand almost five years ago, but now, Freevee will be phased out over the course of next few weeks.
For the platform’s existing content, it will be moved to Amazon Prime Video. Even non-Prime users will be able to access this free content via Prime Video, which would be labeled as “Watch for Free”.
Some of the original shows from Freevee include Emmy-nominated reality comedy “Jury Duty”, Australian soap “Neighbours”, crime drama show “Bosch: Legacy”, “Leverage: Redemption” and “Judy Justice”. Amazon also contributed dozens of Prime Video originals as free to watch on Freevee, including, “The Summer I Turned Pretty”, “The Wheel of Time”, “LuLaRich”, “The Grand Tour”, “Troop Zero”, “Late Night” and “Mozart in the Jungle”, to name a few.
In a statement from an Amazon rep to Variety, “We have built Prime Video into a first-stop entertainment destination where customers can personalize their viewing experience by streaming exclusive Prime member entertainment produced by Amazon MGM Studios, licensed movies and series, content from other services as an add-on subscription, live sports, blockbuster movies and series to rent or buy, FAST [free, ad-supported streaming TV] channels and the complete Amazon Freevee content offering”.
They further added, “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.”