Amazon will not be shutting Freevee, contrary to some reports

Amazon has responded to reports that it will soon ditch its free streaming service, saying that there is no truth in the rumours.

It was claimed by Adweek that Freevee was to be scrapped in the “coming weeks” and integrated into the wider Amazon Prime Video platform. However, that’s not the case, according to a company spokesperson: “There are no changes to Freevee,” they said to Digital Spy.

“Amazon Freevee remains an important streaming offering, providing both Prime and non-Prime customers thousands of hit movies, shows, and originals, all for free.”

Freevee is a cost-free service that offers live TV channels and numerous movies and TV shows to stream at no cost. You do not need Prime membership and Amazon has even launched exclusive programming on the platform in recent times, including spin-off Bosch: Legacy and the long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours, which it picked up after terrestrial cancellation.

Adweek’s original report claimed that Freevee was to be shut in order to bring the service under the Prime Video banner. Amazon recently switched on advertising for the tier that comes as part of a Prime Video subscription, charging £2.99 a month extra if you want an ad-free experience with performance benefits such as Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.

An additional ad-supported tier was suggested, therefore, which would be available without Prime membership. Thankfully, that's not going to happen... yet.

How to watch Freevee

Freevee is a separate service to Prime Video and can be accessed via an app on multiple platforms.

Many of the best TVs from the likes of Samsung, Philips, Panasonic, Sony and LG can access the service. So too can Android and Apple devices, including the Apple TV, Chromecast with Google TV and the Nvidia Shield TV.

Games consoles have the Freevee app too, and all Amazon devices can access the service, of course.

You just need to head to the relevant app store and install it. You will need an Amazon account to sign in, but not Prime membership.