You could see this coming, once Prime went ad-supported. Why have two services?
For those who may not remember, the service was once IMBDTV (terrible name) and was rebranded Freevee in 2022.
https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/amazon-freevee-shutting-down-12362...
I like Freevee, but I agree with you, Mike Boas. Why have two services? I think it'd be cheaper for Amazon to have one service. Non-Prime members will be able to stream movies and shows on Prime for free, so it's not a lost for customers.
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Sucks for Freevee employees, fired before Thanksgiving
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Hopefully Amazon will move the Freevee employees over to the “Watch for Free" department, Dan MaxXx.
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One hurdle might be with licensing deals and ad deals. Freevee, while owned by Amazon, is probably operated as its own company with its own accounting and contracts. They may have known they would consolidate a while back, but had to finish out time commitments. I wonder if that was a plan even before the rebranding from IMBDTV, with Freevee as a stepping stone?
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Yup, well as I have been saying for the last (over a) decade, the ONLY streaming model which will be economically viable is ad-supported. Even Netflix and now Amazon have de facto admitted that...
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Quick chime in - I just spoke to a freind who had a show in development at Freevee - writers room open and multiple scripts written - they're being moved over to Prime and not just shut down. I agree Dan MaxXx that any jobs lost is too many but at least some of the creatives are going to keep their shows going.
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That’s a good sign, Sam Sokolow. They wont shift all of their development projects over, but if they’re doing that with one, there are likely at least a few others getting saved and allowed to move forward.
If you blinked, you missed it. lol.