 Logo used since 2022 | |
| Formerly |
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| Available in | English, German |
| Founded | January 11, 2019 |
| Area served | United States United Kingdom Germany Austria |
| Parent | Amazon |
| URL | www |
| Current status | Active |
Amazon Freevee (stylized as freevee and fv, also shortened as Freevee, formerly known as IMDb Freedive and IMDb TV, and sometimes spelled FV) is an American ad-supported video-on-demand (VOD) streaming service owned by Amazon, with original and licensed programming.
Freevee content is presented to Amazon Prime Video users within Prime's smart TV app interface. Aside from the commercial breaks and the absence of Prime's "X-ray" cast list information; its interface, features, and navigation are identical to the Prime user experience. Freevee also functions as a standalone app for use by non-Prime users.
Amazon Freevee was launched as a free, ad-supported video channel by the Amazon-owned online database IMDb in January 2019, under the name IMDb Freedive. It became IMDb TV five months later and it was rebranded to its current name on April 28, 2022. [1]
The service is available in the United States, as well as the UK and Germany through Amazon, IMDb's websites, and all Amazon Fire devices. [2]
On June 17, 2019, IMDb Freedive announced its rebranding to IMDb TV. Signing new deals with Warner Bros., Sony Pictures Entertainment and MGM Studios (which parent company Amazon later acquired on March 17, 2022), [3] the streaming service began offering new content. [4] Amazon announced that it would be moving IMDb TV's content team to Amazon Studios on February 20, 2020—with the goal of developing original programming under new IMDb TV co-heads. [5]
In September 2021, Amazon announced the launch of IMDb TV in the United Kingdom. But before then, it was available only in the United States. [6]
On April 13, 2022, it was announced that the service would be rebranded as Amazon Freevee beginning on April 27. [7] It was also announced that it would launch in Germany later that year, and would expand its original programming by 70% in 2022. [8] The rebrand occurred on April 28, 2022. Its first announced moves post-rebrand included renewing Bosch: Legacy pre-premiere as well as Top Class, ordering America's Test Kitchen: The Next Generation and a new series adaptation of Black Beauty and expanding Play-Doh: Squished beyond its holiday special. [9]
On August 3, 2022, Amazon Freevee was launched in Germany. [10]
On February 21, 2024, it was reported that Amazon was planning to shut down Freevee in order to focus on Prime Video; [11] these reports were denied by the company. [12] However, in November 2024, Amazon announced plans to discontinue Freevee over the coming weeks: its content has been merged into the Prime Video platform, and will remain freely-available without a subscription. [12]
In 2020, a revival of the 2008 crime drama series Leverage was ordered by IMDb TV, making it the first major exclusive series for the streaming service. [13]
On October 3, 2019, IMDb TV announced it licensed the Canadian animated series Corner Gas Animated as a branded original series, joining the live-action comedy franchise Corner Gas and the feature film Corner Gas: The Movie , which were both on the streaming platform. [14]
IMDb TV acquired the rights to Eleventh Hour Films and Sony Pictures Television's young-adult espionage series Alex Rider , premiering a series adaptation on November 13, 2020. [15]
On October 29, 2020, Amazon Studios announced that it would premiere a new court show on IMDb TV starring Judith Sheindlin, serving as a spiritual successor to her syndicated Judge Judy (which was scheduled to conclude in 2021 after 25 seasons, amid disputes between Sheindlin and its distributor CBS Media Ventures). [16] [17] The new series— Judy Justice—would premiere on November 1, 2021, with an initial order of 120 episodes for its first season. [18] In March 2022, Amazon renewed Judy Justice for a second season; the first season had recorded over 25 million hours of viewership, making it IMDb TV's most-watched original series. [19] In 2023, the service premiered a spin-off series executive-produced by Sheindlin, Tribunal Justice . [20] [21]
On February 22, 2021, it was announced that Norman Lear had set up two projects at IMDb TV, half-hour long comedy Clean Slate and hour-long drama Loteria. [22]
On April 13, 2022, it was announced that a spinoff of the Prime Video series Bosch , titled Bosch: Legacy, would premiere on the service on May 6, 2022, and that the coming-of-age series High School , based on the memoir by Tegan and Sara and adapted by Clea DuVall, would premiere in 2022. It was also announced that the service would add original films to its slate, beginning with the romantic comedy Love Accidentally, starring Brenda Song and Aaron O'Connell. [8]
IMDb TV announced it would begin streaming the NBC drama Chicago Fire on December 6, 2019, making the deal the biggest single licensing pact to date for the streaming service. In addition, IMDb TV announced it would also begin streaming all five seasons of Universal Television's Friday Night Lights starting on December 31, 2019. [23]
In February 2020, IMDb TV acquired the rights to more than twenty scripted TV titles controlled by Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International division and began streaming several Star Trek films in June and July 2020. Starting July 15, 2020, IMDb TV began streaming all 92 episodes of the AMC series Mad Men after completing a licensing deal with Lionsgate. [24] [25]
In July 2021, Amazon and Universal Pictures reached a multi-year deal to bring Universal's films to IMDb TV. As part of the deal, titles from Universal's library would become available, making films including The Invisible Man eligible to stream on IMDb TV for free. Most of the studio's titles will be also available ad-free on Prime Video, including future theatrical releases following their first pay window and four months after being released on Peacock. [26]
On November 3, 2021, IMDb TV UK began streaming content from FilmRise, MovieSphere, MagellanTV and SPI's Docustream, along with program-themed channels based on shows Deadly Women , Are We There Yet? , Bridezillas , Unsolved Mysteries , This Old House , MythBusters , and Hell's Kitchen . [27]
In November 2022, it was announced the company was entering a partnership with Fremantle, to launch a revival of soap opera Neighbours , which will go into filming on April 17, 2023 and broadcast on September 18, 2023. [28]
In May 2023, Amazon announced it would make over 100 Amazon Original series and films from Amazon Prime Video available on Freevee. Some shows will also be available in full while others will only have a selection of episodes. [29]
Judge Judy is an American arbitration-based reality court show presided over by former Manhattan Family Court Judge Judith Sheindlin. The show featured Sheindlin as she adjudicated real-life small-claims disputes within a simulated courtroom set. Prior to the proceedings, all involved parties signed arbitration contracts agreeing to Sheindlin's ruling. The show aired in first-run syndication. As it was during its active years in production, it continues to be distributed by CBS Media Ventures in syndication, now in reruns that still draw notably high ratings.
Judith Susan Sheindlin, known professionally as Judge Judy, is an American attorney, court-show arbitrator, media personality, television producer, and former prosecutor and Manhattan family court judge.
IMDb is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, plot summaries, trivia, ratings, and fan and critical reviews. IMDb began as a fan-operated movie database on the Usenet group "rec.arts.movies" in 1990, and moved to the Web in 1993. Since 1998, it has been owned and operated by IMDb.com, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.
Petri Hawkins-Byrd, also known as Bailiff Byrd or simply Byrd, is an American court show bailiff, television personality, social media personality, actor, voice actor, writer, and former New York State Court Officer.
Amazon Prime Video, or simply Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered both as a stand-alone service and as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by Amazon MGM Studios or licensed to Amazon, as Amazon Originals, with the service also hosting content from other providers, content add-ons, live sporting events, and video rental and purchasing services.
Full Force Nature is an American documentary television series that is narrated by Bill Ratner and ran on The Weather Channel from January 15, 2006 until 2011.
Amazon MGM Studios, formerly Amazon Studios, is an American film and television production and distribution studio owned by Amazon. It was launched in 2010. It took its current name in May 2023 following its merger with MGM Holdings, which Amazon had acquired the year prior.
Bosch is an American police procedural television series produced by Amazon Studios and Fabrik Entertainment starring Titus Welliver as Los Angeles Police Department detective Harry Bosch. The show was developed for Amazon by Eric Overmyer, and the first season takes its inspiration from the Michael Connelly novels City of Bones (2002), Echo Park (2006), and The Concrete Blonde (1994). It was one of two drama pilots that Amazon streamed online in early 2014, and viewers offered their opinions on it before the studio decided whether to place a series order. The seventh and final season was released on June 25, 2021.
FilmRise, is a New York–based film/television studio and streaming network. As of November 2024, the FilmRise App has reported more than 31.5 million downloads in the U.S. and can be seen on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Comcast, iOS, Android, Apple, Vizio, among many other platforms. FilmRise also syndicates its own digital linear channels to platforms including The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, Amazon Freevee and Vizio.
Hot Bench is an American nontraditional panel-based court show that debuted in first-run syndication on September 15, 2014. The series was conceptualized and produced for CBS Media Ventures by Judith Sheindlin of Judge Judy fame, alongside executive producers Randy Douthit, Maureen FitzPatrick, David Theodosopoulos, and co-executive producer James Glover.
Tastemade, Inc. is a media company that offers food, travel, and home & design-related programming for online and streaming audiences. Elvina Payne was announced as CFO in June 2024.
Apple TV+ is an American subscription OTT streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced during the Apple Special Event of March 2019, where entertainers from Apple TV+ projects appeared onstage, including Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, and Steven Spielberg. The service can be accessed through Apple's website and through the Apple TV app, which has gradually become available on many Apple devices and some major competing digital media players, including some smart TV models and video-game consoles.
Alex Rider is a British spy thriller television series based on the novel series of the same name by Anthony Horowitz. Adapted by Guy Burt, it stars Otto Farrant as the eponymous character, who is recruited by a subdivision of MI6 as a teenage spy to undertake espionage missions. The series is Amazon's first scripted British Amazon Original series. The show is jointly produced by Eleventh Hour Films and Sony Pictures Television, and is the second screen adaptation of the novels, following the 2006 feature film version of the first novel, Stormbreaker.
Judy Justice is an American arbitration-based reality court show presided over by former Manhattan Family Court Judge Judith Sheindlin. Judy Justice is both a spin-off and continuation of courtroom series Judge Judy (1996–2021). The show features Sheindlin adjudicating real-life small-claims disputes within a simulated courtroom set. Prior to the proceedings, all involved parties sign arbitration contracts agreeing to abide by Sheindlin's ruling.
Troppo is an Australian television crime drama series starring Thomas Jane and Nicole Chamoun. The first season premiered on ABC TV on 27 February 2022. The show's second season premiered on 5 July 2024 on ABC TV and iview, with Amazon Prime and Freevee both airing it from 25 July 2024.
High School is a coming-of-age drama television series developed by Clea DuVall and Tegan and Sara Quin, based on the 2019 memoir of the same name by the Quins. It premiered on Amazon Freevee on October 14, 2022.
On Call is an upcoming American procedural drama television series created by Tim Walsh and Elliot Wolf that is set to premiere on Prime Video. Originally set up at IMDb TV, eight episodes of the series were officially ordered in April 2023. It is the first series from Dick Wolf to be set in a half-hour format with the running time being 24 minutes.
Tribunal Justice is an American arbitration-based reality court show created by Judge Judy Sheindlin. It premiered on Amazon Freevee on June 9, 2023.
UK originals are not included on the launch slate but the AVOD streamer has been expanding rapidly, with the aforementioned US commissions joining series including Leverage: Redemption, a Bosch spinoff, the second season of Alex Rider and comedy series Sprung.
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