Amazon has today launched its ad-supported VOD service IMDb TV in the UK.
Initially, the company is launching the AVOD service as a carousel available on Amazon Prime Video, before rolling it out as a standalone app available on Fire devices. Membership to Amazon Prime will not be needed to access the standalone app, which will function as a free ad-supported service.
IMDb TV has been available as an AVOD app in the US since January 2019, but today’s UK launch is the first international expansion of the platform. As VideoWeek reported last week, it appears that Amazon has plans to expand IMDb TV further into Europe, and beyond. It is currently hiring for a business development lead to develop “the international distribution strategy with an initial focus on Europe”.
In the US IMDb TV features originals produced by Amazon Studios, such as Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary, Moment of Truth, and Top Class: The Life and Times of the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers, as other films and TV programmes like Pulp Fiction, Community and 2 Broke Girls. IMDb TV also bought the rights to the Alex Rider series that had been streaming on Prime.
Speaking to Variety, Ryan Pirozzi, co-head of content and programming, said that although the UK library would initially be smaller than the US equivalent the platform would “tailor [their] selection to [their] customers in the UK”. Pirozzi also said that there were no existing plans to produce UK-specific original content.
IMDb TV is a spin-off from a film and TV information database website, IMDb. Originally operated by fans, it was bought by Amazon in 1998.
