Amazon
That future Stargate series we’ve been dreaming of has one less potential home: Amazon has announced that its free, ad-supported video streaming service Freevee will be phased out in the coming weeks.
Freevee is a competitor to the likes of Pluto TV, offering free streaming television and movies in a stand-alone app or a Web browser without the need for a subscription or even a login. The service launched as IMDb TV nearly five years ago, and was eventually rebranded as Freevee (Amazon owns IMDb). It provides access to classics and more recent favorite shows both on demand and via dedicated, 24/7 live channels with limited ad breaks — including a live channel for the Stargate franchise. Freevee has been available in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Austria.
The Freevee service has also launched its own original series, including Bosch: Legacy and Leverage: Redemption, plus a range of original comedies and unscripted series like Judy Justice and America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation.
Fortunately the service’s content isn’t going anywhere. Amazon had already rolled Freevee’s content into the Prime Video interface, making the shows and movies on the service available in the Prime Video app and at Amazon.com (under the “Free with Ads” label).
The “Stargate by MGM” channel on Amazon Freevee
The death of the Freevee brand has been predicted by some industry watchers. Running a separate service for free content seems redundant, particularly after the content was all made available via Prime Video — and, earlier this year, Prime Video itself launched a subscription tier that includes ads. Now Amazon will focus on Prime Video as an all-in-one streaming destination, with both free and paid content, as well as the ability to add third-party services such as Paramount+, Max, and MGM+.
MGM+ in the U.S. is also owned by Amazon, and will maintain its status as a stand-alone paid cable and streaming platform.
Amazon confirmed the news first reported by Bloomberg, with a rep telling Variety: “To deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers, we have decided to phase out Freevee branding. There will be no change to the content available for Prime members, and a vast offering of free streaming content will still be accessible for non-Prime members, including select originals from Amazon MGM Studios, a variety of licensed movies and series, and a broad library of FAST channels — all available on Prime Video.”
The 24/7 live channels from Freevee / Prime Video include several with shows and movies from MGM’s library, including a dedicated “Stargate by MGM” channel that launched in 2023. The three Stargate series are also available without ads (depending on your subscription plan) on Prime Video.