As streaming services get more and more popular (and competitive), Amazon has launched a new TV Streaming service. Through its movie and TV website IMDb, Amazon is launching a streaming channel called IMDb Freedive. The channel will be available to U.S viewers through the IMDb website. Amazon Fire Device owners will also have access, and the best part is: it’s completely free.
Streaming services are extremely popular these days with services like Netflix as the leader. Brand new TV Series and films are released on platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. The main thing that attracts people to these platforms is the low subscription fee. For a small fee a month, you can access everything the platform has to offer at any given time making it extremely convenient to watch anything you want.
Although these three platforms may be ahead of the curve, with Netflix being the leader, more streaming services have popped up and are growing at a fast rate. The reason for the growth of other services is that they’re free of cost. How can streaming services be free of cost? They run on ads. That’s the trade-off. If you don’t like ads in the middle of your content, and you have a bit of dollar to spare, you’re likely better off with a service like Netflix.
However, if you don’t mind ads, then you’re likely going to choose the service that’s free of cost. That’s exactly what IMDb Freedive is. It’s looking to disrupt the streaming market, acting as direct competition to all the other streaming services. The service has a lot of promise especially since it’ll have the backing of its parent, Amazon. All you need to access Freedive is to create a free IMDb account.
The plan for the service is to become a platform for movie and TV series streaming like its other competitors. TV shows like Fringe Heroes, Without a Trace, and The Bachelor are few of the many you can find on the platform. You can choose from multiple categories, like any other platform. Movies such as The Illusionist, The Last Samurai, and Memento are also available to watch. IMDb’s original series are also available on the platform, some of which are pretty good.
Freedive isn’t the only ad-based streaming service out there either. There are many other services such as the one launched by Youtube. The “Free to Watch” section on the website allows users to watch certain ad-supported Hollywood films. Some of the content Youtube reserved for its premium subscription was also brought onto the Free to Watch section.
It’s no surprise that all these different big companies are tapping into the market of online streaming, it’s red hot right now. Although some streaming platforms such as Netflix are huge now and it’s unlikely they’ll go out of business anytime soon, competition is good. For us, the users of these services, fierce competition within the market is a win-win. Not only do we get more options, but in order to retain their customers, each platform will try to improve, thus the end-user gets high-quality content at the end of the day, a win-win.
IMDb’s Freedive has potential, especially since it’s different from Amazon Prime Video. The problem with Amazon’s paid streaming service is that it’s not widely accessible. You need to own an Amazon device in order to use the service. Other devices such as Apple TV or Google Chromecast do not have Prime Video support.
Freedive will not have the same approach as Prime Video and will be widely accessible to all. This is the right step to take especially if Amazon wants to compete with other ad-supported services such as Youtube. Since the service is new, you’ll only be able to access it through the IMDb mobile app. However, as time passes it should be available on multiple platforms.
You can also bet that as time passes by, more and more of your favorite TV shows and movies will get added to the service. The service just launched, so it’s best not to be too critical about it right now. It may very well be an Amazon Fire exclusive too for its early days. Whatever the case is, Freedive has the potential to be a big deal if Amazon does it right.