Advertisement

Amazon may reveal its ad-supported IMDB streaming service this week

The free service would be available to Fire TV users.

REUTERS

Rumors about an ad-supported video streaming service from Amazon have been swirling for a little while now, but it looks like the service is right around the corner. CNBC now reports that Amazon's IMDB subsidiary will announce the service this week. In August, sources familiar with the matter told The Information that the service, which is said to be comparable to offerings from Roku and Vudu, was tentatively being called Free Dive and would be available to Fire TV users. Amazon has been in talks with at least three major media companies, according to CNBC's sources, and content will include both movies and past TV shows.

The main draw for Amazon is the advertising revenue that such a service would bring in. While Amazon is now the third-largest digital advertiser, it's still well behind Google and Facebook in that space, and an ad-supported streaming service could help the company capture more of that market. The new service will reportedly allow for ads both in between content and wrapped around an embedded video player, and advertisers will be able to target their ads using Amazon's proprietary data.

The service will reportedly be announced as part of Advertising Week.