Freevee was too innocent to die. The free, channel-based streaming service sometimes felt like a throwback to a time before tech companies maximized subscription costs to boost profits. Amazon confirmed it would phase out Freevee and instead stick its content in Prime Video, which is still available to non-Prime members.
We don’t even have too long to say goodbye. Deadline first reported Monday that the service’s free ad-supported streaming television, or FAST, would be moved over to Prime Video. While non-Prime viewers should still be able to access it free of charge, it will be labeled as “Watch for Free” content on each Amazon page. Amazon claimed there would be no change in available content for Prime members, but that doesn’t mean all the free streaming content will still exist in a few weeks.
The move will take place over the next few weeks and should occur everywhere Freevee is streaming, including the U.S., UK, Germany, and Austria. An Amazon spokesperson told Deadline the move will help “deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers.”
The spokesperson added that “a vast offering” of Freevee’s content will still be accessible for non-Prime members, though that doesn’t mean everything will move over. That includes “select Originals” from Amazon MGM Studios and more licensed movies and series. There will still be “a broad library of Fast Channels” available for non-Prime members on Prime Video.
Gizmodo reached out to Amazon for clarification on what content will still be available. In an email statement, an Amazon Studios spokesperson wrote:
“While licensed content availability on streaming services changes month to month, a vast offering of free streaming content will still be accessible for non-Prime members on Prime Video. For example, new episodes of Judy Justice, Neighbours, Tribunal Justice, America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation and Bosch: Legacy as well as library Freevee Originals including Jury Duty, High School, Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis, Primo, and more will remain available for Prime members and non-Prime members to stream on Prime Video. Additionally, a sampling of library Originals including the first season of The Summer I Turned Pretty, the first three seasons of The Boys, and the premiere episode of Fallout, are also available for non-Prime members to stream for free.”
Freevee started live as IMDb Freedive in 2018, but Amazon eventually renamed the service to Freevee in 2022. It made its mark simply by existing in a time when streaming prices from services like Netflix were going through the roof. Freevee included some original content like Bosch: Legacy and Jury Duty, but last year; Amazon started dropping some free Prime Video content on the platform. This was to entice people to binge the first few episodes of a show like The Tick and Paper Girls, who would hopefully jump into a paid membership to watch more.
As for FAST channels, Freevee ran the gamut. Some were dedicated to Dungeons & Dragons content, and many others housed British content that could be hard to get in the States. Freevee also stocked cult horror and sci-fi films you would struggle to find streaming elsewhere.
Freevee was already a better deal than Amazon Prime in many ways, not the least because Amazon forced users to accept ads starting in January this year. If users didn’t want ads, they needed to pay an extra $3 monthly on top of their Prime subscription. Later, Amazon said it planned for even more ad content through pause ads, carousel ads, and trivia ads.
However, the writing was on the wall. In February, Adweek reported that Amazon planned to give Freevee cement shoes and sink them to the bottom of a deep river. This year, Amazon rebranded some FAST channels as Amazon Prime Video Channels for Fire TV.
Freevee’s demise is indicative of where streaming is heading. This week, Netflix was patting itself on the back for reaching 70 million global subscribers to its ad-based streaming tier. That number doesn’t sound as exciting when you consider how Netflix killed off its Basic subscription tier and forced lingering subscribers onto ad-based accounts. Netflix once eschewed ads entirely, but now it’s embraced them with gusto. It doesn’t take much imagination to see Amazon completely abolish any free content on its site. After all, why have ad-based and subscriber-based content separate when you could have both at once to maximize profit?
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