Amazon is shutting down Freevee, its free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service, the company confirmed Tuesday, Nov. 12. The platform will now to join the likes of other ill-fated streamers like CNN Plus and Quibi.
Amazon is shifting Freevee’s content under its Prime Video platform. The streaming service, which is included with a Prime membership, started showing ads by default in January.
Freevee originally launched in 2019 under the IMDB brand, switching from being called Freedive to IMDB TV a few months later. In 2022, the service was renamed to Freevee.
To deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers, we have decided to phase out Freevee branding.
Amazon Spokesperson
At that time, Amazon said Freevee’s monthly user base had tripled in 2020 to 65 million people.
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Along with streaming hundreds of live FAST channels, Freevee had its share of original programming including the Emmy-nominated reality comedy “Jury Duty.”
“To deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers, we have decided to phase out Freevee branding,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline. “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.”
Freevee is leaving a growing division of the streaming industry known as FAST platforms, which include Fox’s Tubi, Paramount’s Pluto TV and the Roku Channel.
According to Nielsen ratings from February 2024, those three FAST platforms alone account for nearly 4% of total TV use. Digital TV Research forecasts global FAST revenue will reach $17 billion in 2029, up from $8 billion last year.
