What Is Tubi?

Tubi, an AVOD streaming platform acquired by Fox in April 2020, posted massive gains in monthly active users (MAU) and total view time (TVT) during the pandemic. According to the company, “Tubi’s MAU reached 33 million – a new milestone and increase of 65% year over year. In addition, TVT surpassed 200 million hours streamed in April – and has been above 200 million hours each month since – with an average increase of 104% year over year.” The record-breaking numbers for streaming have been seen by many streaming platforms this year, but Tubi’s lack of payment model or required membership set it apart from others like Netflix and AppleTV, offering unique opportunities for advertisers.

What Is Tubi?

Introduced in 2014, Tubi is “the world’s largest ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) service with over 20,000 movies and television shows from nearly every major Hollywood Studio.” There is no subscription or credit card on file. Once consumers are signed up they are free to watch content from Tubi partners. Tubi does not create original content — a distinct difference between the free service and competitors whose original content typically drives consumer acquisition and brand attention. Tubi is fully ad supported, offering non-skippable ads, pre-roll and mid-roll ads and interactive and standard video ads. And, as with most AVOD services, Tubi offers unique targeting opportunities not possible with traditional TV.

How Does Tubi Benefit Advertisers?

At the time that Fox purchased Tubi, Deadline reported that the sale would “broaden and enhance direct-to-consumer digital reach and engagement” for Fox. With Lachlan Murdoch, Fox CEO, noting the “sizable, younger-skewing user base [of Tubi] that spends over 160 million hours per month watching content on the service.” Those same benefits are available for advertisers trying to get in front of consumers who have ditched their cable. 

The advertising firewalls of subscriber-only platforms have made reaching consumers who are streaming difficult. As of last August, 62% of adults in the U.S subscribe to a streaming service, and 6.6 million Americans are expected to cut the cable cord this year, with fewer than 75% of adults still watching traditional TV.

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