Starting April 27 in the US, the overlooked IMDb TV is rebranding into Amazon Freevee in an effort to emphasize that it has free content.
In addition to the oddball name change, Amazon will create a massive amount of original content for Freevee as it promises to grow its library by 70 percent this year. Freevee is already available in the UK and there are also plans to launch the service in Germany later this year.
New wave of original shows
Head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Slake stated that they’re capitalizing on what IMDb TV started to create “ …broadly appealing originals …to establish Amazon Freevee as the premier AVOD service… “
AVOD stands for ad-support video on demand, but Amazon states the ads won’t be too intrusive. The service will keep IMDb TV’s limited ad load and stay similar to the UK’s broadcasting standard.
Amazon didn’t provide the full list of original content that will be making its way to Freevee, but did mention several highlights.
There will be a spinoff of the Amazon Prime Video original Bosch, titled Bosch: Legacy premiering May 6, and High School, a series based on the memoir by musical duo Tegan and Sara. A home design show, Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis, and the comedy Sprung by Greg Garcia will also arrive later.
Banking on momentum
Freevee is slated to take over IMDb TV’s place in the Amazon Prime Video app. In the coming weeks, the service will be getting its own app on Fire TVs.
Amazon states IMDb TV grew a lot in the past two years in the United States with its monthly active users tripling in that time period. The company attributes this growth to the service’s ever-increasing availability, its frequently updated library, and original content.
That said, it remains to be seen if this rebranding will be successful, especially this late in the game with a name that ties to no particular well-known intellectual property, and with so many well-established rivals. Despite the claimed success, this is the third time Amazon has changed the name of its free streaming service. It originally launched as IMDb Freedive in 2019.
