Amazon’s free streaming service, currently known as IMDB TV will be getting its third name since its debut as Freedrive. In an apparent push to stress the cost of the service on April 27th the service will be known as Freevee.
IMDB TV was always kind of a mouthful, but it was a success for Amazon as it tripled its viewers over the past two years and expanded access to the service to a number of platforms. Cord Cutters News is reporting that Amazon will increase original content for the service by 70% this year. Upcoming titles include Bosch: Legacy, premiering May 6; a new home-design series, Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis; Greg Garcia’s comedy series Sprung; the Australian crime drama Troppo; and High School, a scripted series based on the New York Times best-selling memoir by Tegan and Sara Quin. Freevee will also introduce new original movies, starting with Love Accidentally, starring Brenda Song and Aaron O’Connell.
The popularity of ad-supported content has exploded over the past 3 years with spending increases from advertisers and viewership booming. Viewers apparently really like the price. By pulling the IMDB name from the service Amazon separates the streaming service from the searchable database of movie and TV information. From our own end at The Streaming Advisor the mingling of the names made explaining the service a little difficult.
The question is, will people understand that Freevee is a service they already like or be asking what is this?
