IMDb is an online database of information related to films, television series, and video games, founded on 17 October 1990 by Col Needham in the United Kingdom. It operates as a review aggregator, a social cataloging application, and a combined film, television, and video game reference. As of January 2026, the database held almost 26 million titles and almost 9 million customer reviews. Amazon acquired IMDb on April 27, 1998, and the site has since grown into one of the most heavily visited entertainment reference destinations on the internet.
Key facts
- Country: United Kingdom
- Founded: 17 October 1990
- Founder: Col Needham
- Type: review aggregator; video game database; social cataloging application; television series database
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/
Origins and founding
Col Needham launched IMDb on 17 October 1990, and for its first years the site operated as an independent project.
Amazon acquired IMDb on April 27, 1998, as part of a combined deal that on the same day also brought in UK bookseller Bookpages and German bookseller Telebook. Together, the three acquisitions carried approximately $55 million in charges, settled with cash and approximately 1.1 million shares of Amazon common stock, as disclosed in Amazon’s 1998 Form 10-Q filed with the SEC.
Leadership
On January 21, 2025, IMDb announced that Nikki Santoro, who had served as Chief Operating Officer since 2021, was appointed Chief Executive Officer. She became only the second CEO and the first woman to hold the role in the company’s 35-year history.
Col Needham simultaneously transitioned to the role of Founder and Executive Chair in January 2025, stepping back from day-to-day management after 35 years at the helm while remaining based in IMDb’s Bristol, England office.
How the database works
IMDb’s Top 250 list ranks films using a Bayesian weighted rating formula: WR = (v/(v+m)) x R + (m/(v+m)) x C. A film must accumulate at least 25,000 ratings from regular users before it qualifies for consideration.
The STARmeter is a separate weekly popularity ranking for entertainment professionals. It is calculated from page views generated by the site’s hundreds of millions of monthly visitors and is accessible exclusively to IMDbPro subscribers.
Message boards
IMDb permanently removed its message board system on February 20, 2017. The company cited that the boards were “no longer providing a positive, useful experience for the vast majority of our more than 250 million monthly users worldwide.” The closure wiped out 16 years of posts despite a petition that gathered more than 11,000 signatures and 5,000 comments.
Streaming and additional services
In January 2019, IMDb launched a free, ad-supported streaming service called IMDb Freedive, available in the United States on the IMDb website and on Amazon Fire TV devices. The service was renamed IMDb TV in June 2019.
Offices
IMDb’s operational headquarters are in Seattle, Washington. The company also maintains offices in Bristol, England, where founder Col Needham is based, as well as in Santa Monica, California, and New York.
Did you know
- IMDb was one of the first 100 to 200 websites ever launched on the World Wide Web, placing it among the internet’s oldest continuously operating sites. (yahoo.com)
- When IMDb shut down its message boards on February 20, 2017, it erased 16 years of posts in one move. A petition calling for the boards to be preserved collected more than 11,000 signatures and 5,000 comments, but IMDb proceeded with the closure regardless. (theringer.com)
Data sources
- Wikidata
- aboutamazon.com
- sec.gov
- expandedramblings.com
- nasdaq.com
- variety.com
- help.imdb.com
- cnbc.com
- actorsconnection.com
- linkedin.com
Data updated: 2026-10-27