Amazon‘s IMDb is upping the ante in the free, ad-supported premium video game.
IMDb has dumped Freedive as the name for the service it launched in January — rebranding it as “IMDb TV” (somewhat confusingly, as it includes movies as well).
Over the next few months, IMDb will add “thousands” of new titles to IMDb TV, which it claims will triple the number of movies and TV shows available to watch for free for users in the U.S. (A rep declined to provide more specific figures.) In addition, the company says it plans to launch IMDb TV in Europe later this year.
IMDb’s expanded ad-supported VOD lineup comes through new deals with studios including Warner Bros., Sony Pictures Entertainment and MGM. New titles to become available July 1 on IMDb TV include Lionsgate’s “La La Land,” the Oscar-winning musical starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling — the first time it will become available on an ad-supported streaming service.
Others slated to join the service next month include “Sense and Sensibility” (1995) starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet, “Draft Day” starring Kevin Costner, and “A Knight’s Tale” with Heath Ledger. “Captain Fantastic,” the 2016 dramedy starring Viggo Mortensen, is available now on IMDb TV.
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According to Amazon, IMDb TV runs half the ads of typical network TV broadcasts. IMDb is tripling down in the burgeoning AVOD space as it squares off against competitors including Tubi, the Roku Channel, Crackle, Viacom’s Pluto TV, and Walmart’s Vudu.
Here’s the logo for IMDb TV, which has replaced Freedive as the brand name across IMDb properties:
Content on IMDb TV spans multiple genres, including comedy, kids and family, romance, thrillers, sci-fi, documentaries, and horror.
According to the company, popular television shows on IMDb TV include “Fringe,” “Duck Dynasty” and “The Bachelor.” Movies available free to stream include “Drive,” “Donnie Darko,” “Monster” and Kevin Costner’s “Dances With Wolves.”
IMDb TV is currently available only in the U.S. It’s accessible on the IMDb website and as a free channel in Amazon’s Prime Video app across hundreds of devices. That includes Amazon’s own Fire TV streaming-media products, which the tech giant claims has over 34 million active users worldwide. IMDb TV streaming titles currently are not available on IMDb’s iOS and Android apps.
“IMDb TV brings some of the best free content into the living room,” Marc Whitten, VP of Amazon’s Fire TV, said in a statement. “We’re excited that our U.S. customers now have access to even more free TV shows and movies through the app and that customers in Europe can soon enjoy this great service on the biggest screen in their home.”