Amazon announced Wednesday its free streaming service IMDb TV will be renamed Amazon Freevee.
The new name will take effect on April 27, the company said in a news release.
The retailer said the streaming service will also expand its original programming by 70% in 2022, with spinoffs of shows such as "Bosh: Legacy" and other series. It will also add more original movies.
Amazon.com Inc. said the ad-supported service has tripled its monthly active users in the past two years and is expected to launch in Germany later this year.
"We're looking forward to building on this momentum with an increasing slate of inventive and broadly appealing Originals, and are excited to establish Freevee as the premier AVOD (advertising-based video on demand) service with content audiences crave," Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said in the news release.
Wednesday's announcement comes as the retail giant embraces a path to boost its streaming services. Last month, the company closed an $8.5 billion deal to acquire Hollywood studio MGM, making it Amazon's second-largest acquisition following its $13.7 billion deal with Whole Foods in 2017. That acquisition was targeted to make the company better compete against Netflix and Disney+.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More