Amazon is shutting down its ad-supported streaming service, Freevee, over the next couple of weeks. Somewhere, Jury Duty‘s Ronald is crying.
Freevee — which quietly existed for years and had a brief moment of stardom with the release of the Emmy Award-nominated comedy Jury Duty — housed a number of titles for viewers to steam for free with ads. Now, it will be folding the service’s library into Prime Video under a “Watch for Free” section for non-Prime subscribers, Deadline reports.
An Amazon spokesperson said they’ve decided to “phase out Freevee branding” to “deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers.”
“There will be no change to the content available for Prime members, and a vast offering of free streaming content will still be accessible for non-Prime members, including select Originals from Amazon MGM Studios, a variety of licensed movies and series, and a broad library of FAST Channels – all available on Prime Video,” they said.
Freevee launched in 2019 as an offshoot of the IMDb movie site under the name Freedive before later undergoing several rebrands as it struggled to find its footing in today’s streaming landscape.
The service is the home to several original programs including Bosch: Legacy, Judy Justice, Neighbours, Primo, and more. But the free streaming service had a fleeting surge in popularity in 2023 with Jury Duty, the comedic reality show chronicling the inner workings of a fake jury trial through the eyes of one juror who doesn’t know everyone else involved is a paid actor. The show was nominated for four Emmys, including Outstanding Comedy Series.
The streamer’s fate has been up in the air since Amazon announced it would be introducing ads to Prime Video earlier this year.
Sources familiar with the matter claim Amazon wanted “to narrow its efforts to selling one ad-supported service instead of two,” Adweek reports. They also noted that viewers were confused by the similarities between Prime Video and Freevee, as the free streaming service also included some Prime Video originals. Jeez, ya think?
Amazon previously denied that it planned on shutting the service down, saying the platform is “an important streaming offering providing both Prime and non-Prime customers thousands of hit movies, shows, and originals, all for free,” in a statement to Adweek.
Well, not anymore! Now, Freevee’s free offerings will all be available on Prime Video in front of the pay wall to non-subscribers after the service shuts down.
Reports do not indicate when the service will be shut down once and for all, but updates will be rolled out in the U.S., UK, Germany and Austria “over the coming weeks,” Deadline reports.
