Amazon announced today at the IAB NewFronts that it will add over 100 Amazon Original shows and movies from Amazon Prime Video to its ad-supported free streaming service Amazon Freevee (formerly IMDb T.V.). In addition, the business claims the titles will be published throughout the year, marking the first time marketers may advertise against this category of Amazon Originals in a traditional ad style.
At last year’s NewFronts, Amazon Originals on Prime Video only allowed virtual product placement. In addition, Amazon Originals on Prime Video did not yet offer businesses traditional advertising like ad breaks.
Freevee said that popular shows and films, including “Reacher,” “The Summer I Turned Pretty” (May 26), “The Wheel of Time,” “Troop Zero,” “A League of Their Own,” “LuLaRich,” and “Late Night” will be arriving soon. In addition, advertisers may reach Freevee’s audience across devices, including Fire T.V., with new Originals each month.
The shows will often be a teaser for Amazon Prime Video.
Amazon Freevee will distribute the first three episodes of “A League of Their Own,” “The Terminal List,” “Paper Girls,” “Goliath,” and “The Tick” in May. “Homecoming,” “Upload,” and “The Vast of Night” are whole seasons. Amazon said Prime Video will keep these titles ad-free.
“Bosch: Legacy” (whose Season 3 has just been greenlit), “Judy Justice,” “High School,” “Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis,” “Sprung,” music documentary “Post Malone: Runaway,” cooking competition “America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation,” sports docuseries “Uninterrupted’s Top Class: The Life and Times of the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers,” and others are among Amazon Studios’ Freevee Originals.
Amazon reports that #JuryDutyonFreevee has garnered over 200 million TikTok views. The pseudo-docuseries follows an unwary guy who thinks he’s being videotaped for a documentary on America’s judicial system. Still, everyone he encounters—from the judge to the jury to courthouse staff—is an actor.
“Tribunal Justice” premieres June 9, and “Primo,” a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age comedy, premieres May 19.
Freevee offers free ad-supported (FAST) channels and hundreds of T.V. series and movies, both original and licensed. The latter is more like cable T.V., where you can immediately tune into a live stream when you activate the app.
Freevee has over 250 FAST channels in the U.S., including thematically planned movie and T.V. show channels, exclusive Original channels from Freevee and Prime Video, and syndicated channels, including FOX Weather, PickleTV, Vevo, and others. Amazon will increase FAST by 75% in 2023. In addition, Roku, a competitor, has agreed with Jellysmack to publish new content on FAST. It reported 350+ FAST channels in March.
Amazon announced this year that the Freevee Originals FAST channel would be relaunched as Amazon Originals to reflect the increased roster. USA, UK, Germany, and Austria provide Freevee.