Amazon is rebranding its free IMDb TV streaming service as Amazon FreeVee. The service will also grow its original content slate by 70 per cent this year, and launch in Germany later in 2022 (it's currently only available in the US and UK).
The name change will take effect on 27th April.
Amazon FreeVee originals coming soon include Bosh: Legacy (a spinoff of Amazon's longest-running original series), home design series Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis, Greg Garcia's comedy series Sprung, and High School (based on the bestselling memoir by musicians Tegan and Sara Quin and produced by Plan B). It also has the original film Love Accidentally, starring Brenda Song and Aaron O’Connell.
Amazon says the ad-supported service has tripled its monthly active users in the US over the last two years. It puts this growth down to shifting consumer demand.
"Customers are increasingly shifting to streaming ad-supported premium content, and we have developed Amazon Freevee to deliver them highly sought content with limited ads," said Ashraf Alkarmi, director of Amazon Freevee.
"Our new name clearly communicates who we are: an easy-to-navigate streaming service, available to users for free, whenever and wherever they choose to watch some of the greatest Original and licensed content available."
Amazon isn't the only one investing in ad-supported video streaming. Disney Plus will launch an ad-supported tier in the US late this year (and internationally in 2023), while even ad-averse Netflix has said never say never. By bolstering FreeVee, Amazon can keep Prime Video untainted as its premium video streaming offering while collecting the ad dollars via FreeVee.
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