Is Freevee Going Away? Amazon Rebrands Live Channels, Is Consolidation Next?
All of the free streaming content from Freevee could soon be found in different places in the Amazon ecosystem.
Is Amazon the next company to consolidate its various streaming apps? It’s a popular trend among media firms these days as many companies are shutting down superfluous on-demand apps and migrating their content onto flagship streaming services. It could be Amazon’s turn, as the company has rebranded the free streaming channels found on Fire TV devices from “Freevee channels” to “Prime Video Channels.”
Key Details:
- Freevee channels have always been integrated into the Fire TV interface, but now they’ve got a new name.
- The free on-demand content on Freevee could be rebranded as a free viewing tier of Prime Video.
- Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have also made moves to consolidate their streaming properties recently.
Amazon offers dozens of free streaming channels, and has always made them a part of its live channel guide on Fire TV devices. Previously, however, they were called “Freevee” channels, as a way to point viewers to Amazon’s free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service Freevee.
AFTV News was the first to report that Freevee channels have now been rebranded as Prime Video Channels on Fire TV interfaces. The rebrand raises larger questions about the future of Freevee, particularly in an environment of consolidation that has taken hold of the streaming industry.
If Amazon were to decide that it no longer needed a separate, standalone app for Freevee, it clearly already has a solution for where to place the service’s live channels. The on-demand content now on Freevee could relaunch as a new, free tier of Prime Video, resembling the product Peacock used to offer before it discontinued the free service in January 2023. Numerous FAST channels already live on both Freevee and Prime Video.
This is just the latest change to Amazon’s streaming user interfaces made by the company in recent months. In late July, the company tweaked the UI of Prime Video to make it easier to see which titles are available with a subscription, and which you have to pay extra for. That change could have been made with the idea that free on-demand titles from Freevee would soon be part of Prime Video instead of offered in a separate app.
Observers can be forgiven for being a bit confused by the rebrand. Prime Video Channels is also the name of the digital store where customers can add additional streaming subscriptions to their Prime Video account, such as Max and Paramount+.
Which Other Companies Have Already Consolidated Streaming Apps?
If Amazon were to shut down Freevee and move its content to different places in its streaming ecosystem, it would not be the first company to announce such a move. Earlier this week, reports emerged that Disney was sunsetting multiple on-demand apps associated with channels like ABC, Freeform, and FX, in an effort to get more customers subscribed to Disney+.
Warner Bros. Discovery is also consolidating its streaming options. Earlier this month, the company announced that it would be shutting down its kids’ streamer Boomerang, and migrating much of the content found there to Max, which itself is a combination of titles found on the old HBO Max service and discovery+.
Companies with streaming services need to start seeing those services generate a profit sooner rather than later and consolidating content onto a smaller number of apps is a good way to cut down on redundant back-end costs. Such moves also reduce audience confusion, since it is easier to find titles on one app instead of forcing viewers to navigate through multiple platforms to watch what they want.
To be clear, there’s been no word from Amazon that it intends to shut down Freevee anytime in the near future, but the move to rebrand Freevee channels as Prime Video Channels could be the first indication that the company plans to sunset its free streamer and move its content spots in the existing Amazon streaming universe.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 10,000+ movies, TV shows, and Prime Originals like “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “Jack Ryan,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Boys,” and more. Subscribers can also add third-party services like Max, Showtime, STARZ, and dozens more with Amazon Prime Video Channels. Prime Video also offers exclusive live access to NFL Thursday Night Football.