If you regularly use your Amazon Fire TV Stick to indulge in some free-to-air shows, the way you access them is about to change. Amazon has confirmed it is phasing out its Freevee streaming service, which means the branding and app will be disappearing from your screens.
It means if you regularly boot up Freevee to get your free TV fix, you’ll now have to look elsewhere. The app will also disappear from popular products such as Roku streaming sticks and the Apple TV box.
“To deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers, we have decided to phase out Freevee branding,” an Amazon spokesperson told Variety.
“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.”
Variety said Freevee “will be phased out over the course of the next several weeks”.
‘FAST’ stands for Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television, and is the term used by TV companies to describe streaming services that use ads. This is technically what we could call ITV or Channel 4, which remain free-to-air for Brits thanks to ad breaks.
The good news if you’re a Freevee fan here is that the service’s shuttering doesn’t mean you’ll lose access to any free movies or TV shows. Instead, all the existing free content will be made available to those not subscribed to Amazon Prime under Prime Video branding, and labelled ‘Watch for Free’.
Paid-for and ad-free content is, as ever, still available via either a £5.99 monthly subscription to Amazon Prime Video, or bundled with the full Amazon Prime service for £8.99.
Freevee has proven popular thanks to original series produced for the brand, including Jury Duty, Bosch: Legacy and Alex Rider: Season 2. Freevee is also the current home of legendary Australian soap Neighbours, which was picked up after it was canned in 2022 and unable to find a new UK broadcaster.
Amazon has also put several Prime Video originals on Freevee including Jeremy Clarkson’s The Grand Tour and the action series Reacher. These shows should still be free to watch when Freevee disappears.
