Amazon’s IMDb Launches Free Ad-Supported Movie, TV Service in U.S.

Amazon has extended its tentacles into the ad-supported VOD space — stocking IMDb with a back-catalog of dozens of movies and TV shows that are free to watch.The Amazon-owned movie database site has launched IMDb Freedive (imdb.com/freedive), a free streaming video channel available in the U.S. An IMDb rep declined to say how many titles are initially available, other than to say there are “hundreds.” The site currently lists a relatively slim lineup of over 130 featured movies and 29 TV shows to stream for free.TV shows on IMDb Freedive include past seasons of “Fringe,” “Heroes,” “The Bachelor” (seasons 20 and 21), “Gilligan’s Island,” “Duck Dynasty,” “Quantum Leap,” “Born This Way,” “Kitchen Nightmares” and “Without a Trace.” Movies on the service include “Awakenings,” “A Few Good Men,” “Adaptation,” “Drive,” “Foxcatcher,” “Gattaca,” “Memento,” “Run Lola Run,” “The Illusionist,” “The Last Samurai,” “True Romance,” Patty Jenkins’ “Monster,” and Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris.”Titles licensed for Freedive come from studios and networks including CBS, NBCUniversal Television, Sony Pictures Entertainment/Columbia Pictures, Newmarket Films, Warner Bros. Television, A+E Networks and Annapurna Pictures.