Amazon Denies Report Saying Freevee Is Shutting Down

Amazon Denies Report Saying Freevee Is Shutting Down

Freevee isn’t going away, Amazon says.

With Amazon’s Prime Video launch of ads by default last month, rumors and speculation have heated up that the tech giant would no longer have a strategic need for Freevee – its free, ad-supported streaming service that is separate from Prime Video. A Feb. 21 report by Adweek, citing anonymous sources, said that Amazon will “sunset” Freevee, likely in the second quarter and possibly before the NewFronts in late April.

Asked for comment, Amazon said the Adweek report is inaccurate.

“There are no changes to Freevee,” the rep said in an email to Variety. “Amazon Freevee remains an important streaming offering providing both Prime and non-Prime customers thousands of hit movies, shows, and originals, all for free.”

Freevee is the name of the ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) service that was originally launched in January 2019 under the name IMDb Freedive and then rebranded as IMDb TV in June of that year. Freevee is housed within the Amazon Studios group.

Original series on Freevee include breakout Emmy-nominated reality comedy “Jury Duty”; crime drama “Bosch: Legacy”; a new season of Australian soap “Neighbours”; “Alex Rider” Season 2; “Leverage: Redemption”; and “Judy Justice” featuring Judge Judy Sheindlin.

In addition, Amazon has made dozens of Prime Video originals free to watch on Freevee, including “Reacher,” “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” “The Wheel of Time,” “A League of Their Own,” “LuLaRich,” “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” “The Grand Tour,” “Mozart in the Jungle,” “Bosch,” “Modern Love,” “Savage X Fenty,” “Sylvie’s Love,” “Troop Zero” and “Late Night.”

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