Streaming services across the board have been raising their subscription prices, and now Tubi, a free ad-supported service, has reported its biggest month yet.
Per the Los Angeles Times, Nielsen data for May showed that Tubi reported an average audience of 46 percent more than this time a year ago, with one million people using the service at a time on average. That's a better showing for May than Disney+, which reported an average audience of 969,000 viewers. It's also a higher figure than Warner Bros. Discovery's Max, Paramount+, and NBCUniversal's Peacock. The only ad-supporter streaming platform to report higher viewers is YouTube.
"Tubi continues to pull ahead from its (ad-supported video on demand) competition and post faster than expected growth," said research firm MoffettNathanson. The impressive showing for Mubi comes after all the major streaming services, including Netflix and Apple TV+, raised subscription prices. Netflix, in particular, costs $6.99 for its cheapest tier, which comes with commercials. Its ad-free subscription costs $15.49 per month.
In September 2023, Tubi reported it had 74 million monthly active users. The platform's selection of content, due to its ad-supported nature, is extensive. There's a significant portion of licensed content on the platform, but it's also become a go-to platform for low-budget filmmakers and content producers. Village Roadshow also launched its Black Noir Cinema initiative on Tubi, which is an effort to produce work by Black filmmakers with some in the style of classic Blaxploitation cinema.
Adam Lewinson, chief content officer at Tubi, noted that once-forgotten TV shows have also found a home on the platform. One example he gave was the NBC series Believe, which has garnered a lot of attention from young viewers despite being canceled a decade ago. "If things stay on its current course, we believe it’s going to get far more viewers on Tubi than it ever got in its first window on broadcast," he said. There have been a number of Tubi original movies, and the streaming platform will launch its first original series later this year with The Z Suite, a series starring Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham.
Tubi might not have the prestige of originals like those from Netflix, Max, and Apple TV+, but its ad-supported library is so vast that it's got something for most audiences. Its curation might not be as strong as something like the Criterion Channel, for instance, but does have all of Columbo.
