Amazon Confirms Shutdown of FAST Service Freevee

Freevee, we hardly knew ye: Amazon confirmed late Tuesday that it will shut down the FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) service, which debuted as IMDb Freedive in January 2019.

Moving forward, the company will consolidate the streamer under Prime Video.

“To deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers, we have decided to phase out Freevee branding,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. “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.”

Freevee is currently available in Austria, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S., and Amazon said its free content will be made available to non-Prime subscribers under a “Watch for Free” tab in Prime Video.

The phasing out of Freevee will take place over the next several weeks.

ADWEEK senior media reporter Mark Stenberg originally reported Amazon’s plans to shutter Freevee in February, saying at the time that it was part of the company’s strategy to focus its advertising and product efforts on Prime Video, which launched its ad-supported tier in January.

Two people familiar with the matter told Stenberg at the time that ad buyers and viewers were confused by the similarities between Freevee and Prime Video, and Amazon wanted to narrow its efforts to selling one ad-supported service instead of two.

An Amazon spokesperson denied the move in February, telling Stenberg, “There are no changes to Freevee. Amazon Freevee remains an important streaming offering providing both Prime and non-Prime customers thousands of hit movies, shows, and originals, all for free.”