Amazon's free, ad-supported streaming service, IMDb TV, will be rebranded as "Amazon Freevee," effective April 27.
The service, which blends AVOD offerings and FAST linear channels, launched in January 2019 as IMDb Freedive and soon thereafter rechristened as IMDb TV, named after 1998 Amazon acquisition Internet Movie Database.
Reports started leaking out late last year that Amazon was looking at a catchier name for a free service that has already tripled in usage in the last two years.
“Our new name clearly communicates who we are: An easy-to-navigate streaming service, available to users for free, whenever and wherever they choose to watch some of the greatest Original and licensed content available," said Ashraf Alkarmi, director of Freevee.
Amazon also said it's planning to expand Freevee original series by 70% this year. This will include the anticipated May 6 debut of Bosch: Legacy, a spinoff of Amazon Prime Video stalwart original Bosch; new home-design series Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis; the Greg Garcia comedy series Sprung; and High School, based on recording artists Tegan and Sara Quin's New York Times best-selling memoir.
Freevee will announce additional new shows at its NewFront presentation on May 2.
“We’re looking forward to building on this momentum with an increasing slate of inventive and broadly appealing Originals, and are excited to establish Freevee as the premier AVOD service with content audiences crave," said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios.
The platform, which expanded into the UK in September, also has plans to enter Germany late this year.
The erstwhile IMDb TV has its free on-demand offerings blended with Prime Video subscription and rental/sale transactional wares within the broader Amazon Prime Video app.
It also has a standalone app that's supported by most connected TV and mobile platforms.
Amazon bills Freevee as a "modern television network," attempting to create a broad-skewing broadcast network experience with what it claims is half the advertising load. ■
