Flipping through TV channels has been replaced with scrolling between streaming services a là Netflix, Hulu, Max, Apple TV+, Disney+, and more. According to Deloitte’s 2024 Digital Media Trends Report, the average American household pays $61 on four services per month—that’s up 27 percent from 2023. However, data suggests that some streamers are growing fatigued. Thirty-six percent said the content on these platforms isn’t worth the cost. Enter Tubi. The streaming video subscription is surpassing other streaming giants in popularity and best of all, it’s free. But what is Tubi, exactly?
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“We’re like the little engine, and it’s just getting better and better,” Tubi chief executive Anjali Sud recently told The New York Times.
The streaming service, which Vulture dubbed “Netflix’s geekier, freakier, and totally free rival,” has slowly been making waves since it was first acquired by Fox Corporation for $440 million in 2019. However, it wasn’t until last year, during a Super Bowl LVII commercial break, that the public got a real taste for what Tubi stands for.
The first thing you need to know is that Tubi is completely free for users thanks to advertising dollars. Additionally, you're not required to create an account in order to watch Tubi’s original content or reruns of network programming. For Netflix, Hulu, and other paying subscribers, this methodology almost seems too good to be true.
So, what’s the catch? There isn’t one. At Tubi, free means free.
This August, Tubi earned a top spot on the Nielsen monthly ranking of streaming services, reports Vulture. It’s a historic first for Tubi, which clocked more than 64 million monthly active users this month.
Tubi has more than 50,000 titles that are available to stream for free. Some of these include crime series like Empire and Scandal, plus movies with cult followings like the It films and Booksmart. There’s also a small selection of Tubi originals.
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As of June 2024, 46 percent of Tubi’s audience was Black. One month later, Vulture reported that one of Tubi's fastest-growing categories was “Black Cinema.”
In a The New York Times interview, Tubi marketing chief Nicole Parlapiano said, “We have literally thousands—thousands—of shows and films that star Black talent or are created by Black talent.”
As far as free streaming services go, Tubi’s biggest competitors are Pluto TV, the Roku Channel, and Amazon’s Freevee. However, Nielsen data illustrates a different picture. Tubi is officially in the big leagues, outranking Peacock, HBO Max, Paramount and Apple TV+ in total viewing time.
The free platform is currently tied with Disney+, but if this data is any indication of Tubi’s future, Disney+ might not stand a chance.
“We took what people thought were Tubi’s perceived weaknesses—older content, no stars, lower-budget movies—and we made it our strength,” Parlapiano told The New York Times. “To be tied with Disney? That actually blows my mind. Their team is probably 100 times my size and I can’t imagine what their budgets are.”
“But because we have those constraints, that’s where creativity wins,” she added.
Advancing in the streaming war battle, Tubi is now up against YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu.
