Amazon's video streaming service Freevee is now also starting in Germany. The free, ad-supported service was already available in the US and UK and originally launched in the US in January 2019 under the name IMDb Freedive, based on Amazon's online database IMDb.
Streaming completely financed by advertising
Germany is only the third country in which Amazon's offer is starting. Instead of a subscription fee as with Amazon Prime Video, which has recently increased significantly in price together with Amazon Prime, users have to accept advertising breaks in the streams.
Own and external content to start
Amazon Freevee will not only include Amazon's own productions, but will also offer films and series from other film studios via appropriate license agreements. In the future, the offer will also be supplemented and expanded to include linear TV channels. Live thematically programmed linear channels from BBC Food, BBC Travel, BBC History, X-Factor: The Unbelievable, FilmRise series, Craction TV and An Angel on Earth are currently available. Amazon had already added linear content to Prime Video in recent years.
The Amazon Freevee Originals that will be available in Germany at launch include “Bosch: Legacy”, “Uninterrupted's Top Class: The Life and Times of the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers” and “Bug Out”. In addition, a selection of films and series episodes, including “Hotel Mumbai”, “East Frisian for Beginners”, “Nightcrawler”, “Tigermilch”, “2 Broke Girls”, “The Night Manager”, “Person of Interest” and “Penny Dreadful “ be available.
Freevee can be reached with or without a Prime membership in Germany via the Prime Video app or Freevee website and in the coming days via a standalone app on Fire TV. A subscription is not required. On Prime Video, users can find Freevee content through the “freevee – Popular movies and series – free with ads” carousel. New content is added to Freevee every month, according to Amazon.
Amazon is faster than Netflix
With the start of ad-financed video streaming, Amazon is ahead of Netflix in particular, which will also launch an ad-financed offer where the subscription fee is based on current rumors but not completely abolished, but only reduced by the advertising. Netflix' new tariff could start this year.