Amazon to Shut Down Freevee, Move Its Content to Prime Video
Prime Video’s decision to embrace commercials appears to have cost Freevee dearly.
Amazon is officially shuttering its free, ad-supported offshoot Freevee — home to last year’s breakout hit Jury Duty — over the next few weeks, moving its content to the Prime Video streaming service, which now has its own ad-supported tier. (Reports of the move began circulating back in February.)
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“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 Channels and the complete Amazon Freevee content offering,” a spokesperson told our sister site Deadline. “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.”
Several of Freevee’s original series — including Judy Justice, Leverage: Redemption and Bosch: Legacy — have already been proactively moved to Prime Video for their coming seasons.
Prime Video’s foray into commercials began on Jan. 29.
“This change will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time,” the streamer said in a message to subscribers at the time, adding: “We aim to have meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers.”
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