Amazon will close its free ad-supported streaming service.
Freevee, home to originals like Jury Duty, Bosch: Legacy and Judy Justice, will close in a few weeks.
But fans can still watch the shows. Amazon is taking the step so that all its content is under the Prime Video brand.
The change means that all Freevee shows, which also include Tribunal Justice and Neighbors, will be available to watch on Prime Video.
The good news is that even non-Prime members will be able to watch them for free in the “Watch Free” section.
Streaming platforms are finding more ways to cut costs, and Amazon’s decision to eliminate Freevee does so on multiple fronts.
Freevee, home of originals like Bosch: Legacy, will close in a few weeks.
By retiring the Freevee brand, Amazon can reduce marketing costs and avoid the ongoing expense of supporting a separate app on multiple smart TVs and streaming devices.
This streamlining allows Amazon to focus resources on its core Prime Video platform, making it easier to manage and promote content in a single destination.
The transition will be implemented in Freevee’s current territories (US, UK, Germany and Austria) over the coming weeks.
Amazon assures that no job cuts are planned, since the Freevee team had already integrated with Amazon MGM Studios and the Prime Video business group.
It is about doubling Prime Video’s role as a provider platform that serves both Prime members and non-members, creating a single destination for both ad-supported and subscription viewing.
Unlike a standard streaming service, Prime Video offers a variety of other types of content, from movies to rent or buy to a variety of free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels.
Non-subscribers also have access to popular Prime Originals, with options to watch select seasons or episodes, including hits like The Summer I Turned Pretty, the first three episodes of The Boys, and the first episode of Fallout, all without requiring a subscription.
Speculation about Freevee’s future began late last year when Amazon announced the introduction of ads on Prime Video starting in January 2024, blurring the lines between Prime Video’s subscription-based service and Freevee’s ad-supported model.
Freevee’s origins date back to 2019, initially launched by IMDb as Freedive before being renamed IMDb TV and eventually Freevee.
With programming that included scripted hits like Jury Duty, which earned four Emmy nominations, and Bosch: Legacy, the platform was successful, reportedly amassing a user base that tripled to 65 million between 2020 and 2022.
The gradual shift of content from Freevee to Prime Video began earlier this year with series like American Rust: Broken Justice and On Call migrating to the platform.
The third season of Bosch: Legacy will also share streaming on Freevee and Prime Video.
For Amazon, this consolidation reinforces Prime Video’s hybrid model, creating a single destination for both ad-supported and subscription-based viewing.
Amazon first introduced ads in late January this year, showing them at the beginning, middle and end of each show or movie. In the photo: The summer I became pretty
Freevee will close in a few weeks
Freevee shows, which also include Tribunal Justice and Neighbors, will be available to watch on Prime Video.
Meanwhile, streaming services are increasingly cracking down on password sharing.
Max is the latest, after Netflix and Disney +.
But the streamer behind House of Dragon and The Penguin will start with a gentler approach than its rivals.
Those two streamers are much stricter. They are monitoring where users watch shows and will cut them off if they are regularly from different directions.
Gunnar Wiedenfels, chief financial officer of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a earnings call that Max would begin his repression with “very gentle messages.”
It will encourage members who share accounts with other households to “pay a little more.”
This soft, gentle approach will be used over the next few months. After that, the company will take more extreme measures, such as limiting access to users within the same household.
Meanwhile, news broke last month that Amazon is about to launch MORE ads on Prime Video, and users who don’t want them will have to pay more each month.