TobyThe streaming service that has long been touted as completely free has overtaken other more popular services in popularity. Some of the big players that fall under Tubi are also many of the most powerful companies in the streaming wars. Tubi’s achievement is a no-brainer, given that the service is free for everyone to use, and it’s sure to shake up the structure of other business models based on expensive services.
The news comes from a report in The New York Timesrevealing Tubi’s partial victory after an 18-month run of numbers that has made it one of the most popular services in the United States. While Tubi still trails Netflix, YouTube, Amazon, and Hulu, and reports similar numbers to Disney+, it has now grown to become more popular than Max, Apple TV+, Paramount+, and Peacock. Tubi has kept its business model intact; by running ads during programming, the streaming service has continued to grow over the years, and has recently experimented with original programming.
When it comes to one of her most notable recent original films, slaughter“We rejected the idea that quality comes from budget size or critical acclaim,” says Anjali Sood, CEO of Tobi. slaughter It tells the story of four drag queens forced to become vampire hunters and defend their audience. Marketing chief Nicole Parlapiano mentions a second-rate horror gem to expand on this: “Tubi viewers aren’t shy about saying they spend their time watching Velocipastor Instead of the bigger show on HBO.” There’s nothing wrong with that. According to Parlapiano’s comments:
We took what people thought were weaknesses of Tubi — old content, no stars, low-budget movies — and made them our strengths. Are we on par with Disney? That’s really amazing. Their team is probably a hundred times bigger than me and I can’t imagine how big their budgets are.
slaughter and Velocipastor These are just the tip of the iceberg of what viewers often find when they search through free streaming service boxes. According to Times In an article published by the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, executives confirmed that the most popular categories on Tubi are horror, thrillers, and true crime. However, the platform also offers a wide range of older programming that is often missing from the big streaming services. This includes sitcoms, Oscar-winning movies, and obscure foreign films. There is no pattern. There is a little bit of everything on Tubi. Even if viewers are embarrassed to reveal their tastes and the content of their watch lists on Tubi, one of the other perks that makes Tubi so popular is that it does not require an account to log in and watch. You can just select and press play.
Tubi is available for use in the United States, Australia, Mexico, and Canada only.
How does Tubi stay free in a sea of expensive streaming services?
Tubi is owned by Fox Corp., which bought it in 2020 for $440 million. Its growth spurt is so big that it makes competitors a little uncomfortable when they see its streaming numbers (Tubi made $900 million in 2023, $775 million in 2022). And as long as Tubi remains profitable, it’s not afraid to continue its free-for-all model. “Our lack of profitability is a conscious choice,” Sood says.
So while other players keep raising their prices, smaller companies like Tubi and PlutoTV have the agency to be the go-to choice for fans who aren’t always looking for the latest blockbuster. Remember the feeling of browsing video rental stores in the 80s and 90s and suddenly finding a gem of a genre? That’s what browsing Tubi feels like, and it’s probably what will keep it alive for years to come.
Tubi is available for use on Android, iOS, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, most smart TVs, and web browsers.
