Amazon launches ad-supported streaming-video service
Amazon.com has increased its video streaming options by launched its first advertising-supported channel on Thursday.
It is the e-commerce giant’s latest effort to grab a larger share of the ad market.
IMDb Freedive offers a collection of TV shows and movies on IMDb’s website or through Amazon Fire TV devices without having to purchase a subscription, said IMDb, a unit of Amazon since 1998, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The catalog of available titles, which includes recent TV shows such as “The Bachelor” and “Duck Dynasty” and classics such as “Dallas” and “Gilligan’s Island,” will continue to evolve, IMDb said. Available movies include “Dracula” and “A Few Good Men.”
Digital video is an on-ramp to winning a piece of the roughly $210 billion global TV ad market, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Amazon has 4 percent of the U.S. digital ad market, good for No. 3, behind Google and Facebook.
Amazon has been a player in streaming video for years through its Prime Video service, which started as a perk for subscribers of the online retailer’s annual Prime shipping service.
The company spent heavily to produce and acquire streaming-video content including critically acclaimed shows such as “Transparent” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
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Unlike Prime Video, IMDb Freedive will be free of charge and feature advertising.
