Amazon is now the proud owner of its very own, historic Hollywood studio. The retail and
streaming video giant closed its deal earlier this year to buy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer — and
with it came the Stargate franchise. So where is that new Stargate series that
fans have been loudly rallying for, since 2018’s Stargate Origins Web series … or,
more accurately, since Stargate Universe left the airwaves back in 2011?
Since the deal was first announced we’ve been operating under the assumption that
Amazon will want to put the Stargate franchise — a high-profile brand with
a built-in fan base — on its flagship video streaming service, Prime Video.
But there’s a good reason to think that, if and when it finally does come along,
the next Stargate production might end up streaming in an unexpected place.
It’s been five months since Amazon announced its purchase of MGM is complete, and so far
the company is keeping its cards close to the vest on the future of Stargate … and
several other MGM properties as well. What they have been clear about is the
fact that Amazon paid a cool $8.45 billion for MGM’s legacy film and television library,
as well as its intellectual property — which is the brands that it owns. That’s everything
from Stargate, James Bond, and Rocky to the Pink Panther, Legally Blonde, Vikings, and a lot more.
Some of that is likely to end up on Amazon Prime Video. If you live outside the United States you
might have access to some of Stargate through the “MGM Channel” add-on. Here in the States we don’t
have that. There isn’t any way to watch Stargate on an Amazon service, as of this recording.
Now, here’s where things get interesting: Amazon also owns a second streaming service.
It’s called “Freevee,” an over-the-top streamer that has recently begun experimenting with its
own original programs. It used to be called IMDb TV, and like the name "Freevee" suggests,
the content here is all free. Unlike Prime Video Freevee is entirely ad-supported,
so you’ll get a few minutes of unskippable commercials when you select a free movie or show.
Building up Freevee as an ad-supported service alongside Prime Video is a current
priority at Amazon. They’re creating original scripted content specifically for Freevee.
Now, why does this make some sense as a possible home for the Stargate franchise? Let’s look
closer at Freevee to see what’s going on here. Freevee is available on many different smart TVs,
mobile devices, and set-top boxes like Roku. You might have seen us talking about Pluto TV a few
months ago, and it’s a similar deal: Pluto is an Internet-based streaming service that is free
and entirely ad-supported. Pluto TV is a competitor with Amazon Freevee, and they actually
picked up the rights to Stargate back in April. Our sources say that wasn’t a legacy deal that
MGM made Amazon take on, but the deal with Pluto was actually struck after Amazon acquired MGM.
So like Pluto TV, Freevee offers a range of classic and more recent shows on demand.
It also has 24/7 channels with episodes streaming in rotation. There are a bunch of familiar sci-fi
and fantasy shows on Freevee as of this recording, including Fringe, The X-Files,
Amanda Tapping’s Sanctuary, LOST, Warehouse 13, Andromeda, The Outpost, and Space: 1999.
If you open up Freevee in a Web browser instead of the dedicated app,
right now it just appears within the standard Amazon Prime Video interface. All the free
stuff and all the shows that come with Prime are both here. So you could be browsing Prime Video
and pick a Freevee show and you’d never know the difference … except for the fact that it has ads.
On its own, of course, Freevee doesn’t have nearly the wide, global distribution
that Prime Video enjoys. The service is available in the United States and the U.K.,
and just launched this summer in Germany. So there's a focus here on legacy content — older
shows and movies that are popular with audiences but no longer in production. There’s some
speculation among insiders that much of MGM’s own back catalog will end up on Freevee, rather
than locked behind the Prime Video paywall. This strategy would not leave Prime Video
out of the equation entirely, though. As we said, Freevee’s content is also integrated
with Prime Video. You can find it in the carousel labeled “Free with Ads.”
This means that the majority of Prime’s 175 million users would — in theory — also have
access to Freevee’s original series through the same interface that they’re already familiar with.
You could watch a new Stargate show in the Prime Video app, and not even know it was a Freevee
original until the Tide commercials started. Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate
Universe are all currently available this way on Pluto TV, streaming free with ads. And it’s not
clear to us if MGM’s current licensing deal with Pluto TV would have to run its course
before the shows could also be added to Freevee (or to Prime Video, for that matter).
Last but not least: it’s also important to note that MGM currently produces original
scripted and non-scripted shows for many different outlets. They make Vikings: Valhalla for Netflix,
The Handmaid’s Tale for Hulu, and nonscripted shows like NBC’s The Voice and Survivor on CBS.
If Amazon keeps MGM as a stand-alone production house, it’s entirely possible
that a future Stargate show could be sold to a network or a streamer that Amazon doesn’t own.
There’s nothing that says that an MGM show has to go to an outlet that its new business daddy owns.
So that’s one of the biggest outstanding questions right now, as the dust settles on the merger:
Will Amazon’s own services get first dibs on new TV projects that are green-lit from
this point forward? Or will MGM continue to operate as a content producer that is,
relatively speaking, network neutral? Realistically, it’s going to take Amazon
executives some time to fully evaluate MGM’s intellectual property, the current state of
various global distribution contracts, and how a popular sci-fi franchise might support Amazon’s
own strategy in the streaming video space. That includes both Prime Video and Amazon Freevee,
which although they're integrated each have their own business model.
If Amazon and MGM didn’t start these conversations already
in 2021 (when the merger was announced but undergoing review)
then realistically it might be 2023 before the companies are ready to make any announcements.
But keep your eye on Freevee. If the previous Stargate shows turn up here,
that might be an indicator that future Stargate could be a Freevee original too.
So what do you think? Would you watch a new Stargate series on Freevee?
What do you think of the Stargate shows having unskippable ads? Share your thoughts
in the comments below, and leave a Like to show some support for the channel.
We’re closing in on 100,000 subscribers, and you might be the one!
Thanks so much for all of your support for GateWorld on YouTube. Meanwhile you can
always find the latest Stargate news and special features over on our Web site at GateWorld.net.