Amazon is reportedly developing yet another video streaming service — although unlike its paid Amazon Prime platform, the new offer would function as an ad-supported product exclusively available for Fire TV owners. Such a project has been rumored before, though not necessarily with the smart TV component.
The service, tentatively dubbed Free Dive, is conceptually akin to Roku Channel — an ad-supported service comprising an assorted mix of older catalog content that Roku launched for owners of its smart TV devices, according to The Verge. Amazon is reportedly looking to license older TV shows from major studios in order to seed the Free Dive content library. The service’s development is reportedly under the auspices of Amazon’s IMDB division, which is home to ad-supported content of its own.
Amazon counts an estimated 48 million Fire TV device owners — which is available in a variety of connected dongles and boxes. Tapping into the lucrative advertising business, however, would bring Amazon more squarely into competition with YouTube. The company has made other recent moves to highlight ad revenue streams, including implementing ads within its Channels program, removing the ability for Twitch Prime members to surf the platform ad-free, and ramping up ads during sports broadcasts — including soccer and NFL games — which are available for Prime subscribers.
News of Free Dive’s development was was first reported by The Information.
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