IMDb TV, Amazon’s free video streaming service, has gone live in the UK. The ad-supported platform, which lets users watch a mix of TV shows and Amazon originals at no cost, launched in the US three years ago. The UK launch is IMDb TV's first international foray.
From today, UK-based Amazon Prime and non-Prime customers can access IMDb TV through the “IMDb TV – Popular Movies and TV - free with ads” carousel within the Prime Video app.
Amazon says it'll also make the free streaming service available via a standalone app on Fire TV within "the coming weeks". There's no word on whether IMDb TV will get it own iOS and Android apps (as it has in the US).
Amazon sees IMDb TV as a competitor to the likes of BBC iPlayer and All4. The service will offer blockbuster movies including Pulp Fiction, Chinatown, Kill Bill and Lawrence of Arabia, plus originals such as Moment of Truth, a five-part docu-series about the murder of NBA legend Michael Jordan’s father.
Users will also get access to "thousands" of TV shows that run the gamut from Magnum P.I. and The A-Team, to Community, Babylon 5, Masterchef Australia and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.
“You might see some overlap in licensed content [with Prime Video], but the selection will be unique and bespoke because we’re obsessing over UK customers,” said Ryan Pirozzi, co-head of content for IMDb TV. “So we’ll tailor our selection to our customers in the UK.”
Amazon thinks that IMDb TV will particularly appeal to customers who don’t want to subscribe to Prime, but who don’t mind watching adverts. You can't skip them, of course, but in the US, Amazon claims that there are fewer ads on IMDb TV than there are on live TV.
It seems the tech giant has big plans for IMDb TV, and there are already rumours that the UK launch could be the start of a huge global rollout. That might explain why IMDb TV recently teamed up with Prime Video to sign a huge "multi-year" licensing deal with Universal that could grant viewers early access to some of the studio's biggest movies.
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