If you were asked which streaming service you think is growing fastest right now, what would you say? Many of you would probably think of Netflix. Others may think of Max or Disney+. However, the fastest growing streaming service in the United States is called Tubi. And even more impressive is how they’ve achieved it. No, it’s not by offering more attractive prices than other platforms. It’s by offering content for free. What’s the key then? Advertising.
It’s quite curious, isn’t it? With the arrival of streaming platforms, we got used to watching all content without ads and on demand, at our own pace. It was perfect, for a relatively affordable monthly fee we had a huge catalog of series and movies that we could watch whenever we wanted, without ads and without having to wait for their airing. But over the years there have been many changes that have “disenchanted” many users.
The arrival of advertising, decreased quality, constantly increasing prices, weekly series premieres, and a long list of other factors have contributed to many users deciding to unsubscribe from some streaming platforms. But there’s one in the United States, and now also in the UK, that just keeps growing. It’s called Tubi and it has achieved this by going back to the business model that existed before streaming platforms: ad-supported content.
Tubi and Why it’s Thriving in Some Countries
Tubi defines itself as an “ad-supported video-on-demand service,” also known as AVOD. It was first launched on April 1, 2014, and was acquired by Fox in 2020 for $440 million. It is available in the US, Canada, Mexico, Latin America (Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Panama), Australia, and recently launched in the UK.
Fox’s interest in Tubi was a clear indication that Tubi’s business model was working. According to company data, they have grown by 60% in the last year, surpassing 80 million monthly active users. To put it into perspective, this surpasses the figures of Disney+, Amazon Prime, Peacock, or Max, as well as other free services like Pluto and Roku. While it doesn’t yet match Netflix’s numbers, time will tell.
They’ve achieved this with a business model that may seem outdated. Tubi licenses existing content, allowing people to watch it for free with ads. Tubi is part of the FAST channel industry, which we’ve talked about before. These platforms offer users the ability to watch content online without paying a subscription, but with ads. And these ads are the main source of funding for these platforms.
A Huge and Free Catalogue
The free aspect is just one part of Tubi’s success. The other is its vast content library. In the US, the platform boasts the world’s largest content library, with over 200,000 movies and TV show episodes, a growing collection of Tubi Originals, and nearly 250 FAST channels.
In the UK, where Tubi recently launched, it offers over 20,000 movies and TV show episodes, with selected content from major global distributors like Disney, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. It also provides a strong lineup of Tubi Originals. The content library in the UK combines some of Hollywood’s best movies with modern British classics and offers series with recognized British TV franchises alongside new discovery areas from Bollywood and Nollywood to independent cinema.
The Future of Tubi
Despite recent rumors of international expansion, Anjali Sud, Tubi’s CEO, mentioned in an interview with Variety that the UK launch wouldn’t be followed by the service’s arrival in other European territories, at least not immediately. Tubi’s business model is challenging to execute in many territories, as it depends on each country’s licensing contracts and distributions. Nevertheless, who knows, perhaps Spain could be on the list.
An Opportunity for Users
While free streaming platforms like Plex or PlutoTV are becoming more popular in Spain, others like Tubi remain less known. Understandable, as Tubi is an American service not available in Spain, but anyone with a VPN can easily access a content catalog that, as many users on social media have been claiming, has a lot to offer compared to major platforms like Netflix.
In fact, some users argue that Tubi’s current situation is of great quality comparable to Netflix in its early days. We shouldn’t underestimate the power of these new platforms that could pose significant competition to Netflix.
In today’s economy, avoiding wasteful spending is essential, and the array of different streaming services makes having multiple subscriptions too costly. With this, FAST platforms manage to attract audiences by offering free, high-quality content that can even be better than the new original series and movies produced by major platforms.
Classic and New Content Additions
In X, there are many comments praising Tubi and celebrating the good content it offers, although, of course, there is some filler. Some even see the positive side of their less attractive content: “They have many good things, but I also enjoy the trash. I’m a big fan of poorly done independent horror. The options are endless. There’s nothing like this anywhere else.”
From Tubi’s perspective, they can be satisfied with the free advertising their subscribers give them on social media. Users appreciate being able to watch movies like Blue Velvet (1986), Memories of Murder (2003), Ghost in the Shell (1995), or Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1977). Authentic classics that you can access for free, even from Spain if you have a VPN to change your location to the US. While many contents may only be available in English, as their primary market is in North America (in fact, it’s the number one free platform in the country), the large Hispanic population means many shows also have Spanish audio or subtitles.
Tubi is not available in Europe due to GDPR, but with a VPN or in the US, we can watch Tubi without any issues.