Amazon reportedly plans to shut down its Freevee streaming service later this year. With Prime Video now including ads, it would seem Amazon no longer sees much value in maintaining Freevee as a separate streaming service.
Originally IMDb TV, the ad-supported streaming service was rebranded as Freevee in 2022. The main difference between Freevee and Prime Video is that Freevee is a completely free streaming service, similar to Pluto TV and Tubi.
The news on the shuttering of Freevee comes from Adweek, which cites “three people familiar with the strategy” for the information. According to the report, the change is part of a wider effort by Amazon to now focus its advertising efforts on Prime Video. While no firm date for when Freevee is expected to close down has been provided, Adweek does point to the likelihood of it happening in the second quarter of this year.
Even though the use of ads in Prime Video reduces the gap between Freevee and Prime Video, there is still the difference in price. After all, Freevee is free to use and the ad-supported version of Prime Video requires a paid subscription.
On this point, the report suggests that the shuttering of Freevee will result in Prime Video adopting a three-tier approach. Essentially, there will still be a free tier, along with the option to upgrade to ad-supported plan, and the option to upgrade again to the ad-free plan.
One thing that remains unclear is whether this will also mean that ad-free Prime Video subscribers will get ad-free access to the entire Freevee catalog. Considering that’s not currently the case for those that upgrade, the shuttering of Freevee could add more value to Amazon’s ad-free tier.
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