‘The paradox of choice’: Tubi CEO explains how free streaming service is making entertainment easy and fun again

When you think of free streaming, you can associate it with: YouTube or homemade social media videos – not likes netflix or AppleTV+where you can find big blockbusters and major TV series. But a growing number of services offer the best of both worlds.

best free streaming services are becoming viable alternatives to the leading subscription-based offerings, and while there’s still a long way to go before these services can become serious rivals to the big names, there is one service that has the backing of a major Hollywood studio and is quickly coming on board. is becoming a standout.

tubi It has one of the largest catalogs of movies and shows available to watch for free and has caught the attention of many people. Ad-based service doubles monthly active users Netflix’s equivalent subscription tier Launched in late 2022, this number will increase to 80 million in 2024.

If these numbers seem surprising to you, come down the rabbit hole with me as I talk to Anjali Sud, who is leaving Vimeo to become CEO of Tubi in September 2023, and find out how the free streamer can compete against YouTube. best streaming services.

‘Be careful what you wish for’

(Image credit: Tubi)

Tubi is also available in the US, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Latin America and, starting in July, the UK. Streaming subscription alternative launched with 20,000 free movies and episodes It’s available in the UK (only 4,500 movies), and while that’s a tiny fraction of the reported 250,000-strong library in the US, Sud is confident the service will scale quickly in the new market.

“We are the most-watched free movie and TV streaming service in the United States,” Sud told me. “We are the number one AVOD (video on demand) in Canada. We just connected Disney Plus By number of views in the USA ( Nielsen data), so that means we’ve surpassed peacock And Maximum – large publishers that have been around for a long time.”

A big part of what makes Tubi so successful, aside from its biggest advantage being that it’s completely free, is that it has such a robust library. Described as a ‘free Netflix rival’, you’ll find not only small-budget productions but also a variety of movies and shows, including a growing number of critically acclaimed films like these. Three movies with over 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.

In fact, the sheer size and variety of content in Tubi’s catalog is something that even I found surprising when I first started exploring the platform, and it’s what really resonates with viewers looking for a streaming alternative that won’t skyrocket subscription prices. Paramount Plus raises prices in Augustduring Disney plans price increases for October.

(Image credit: Tubi)

In fact, we see Tubi gaining even more momentum and adoption because there is a paradox of choice. There’s too much friction and disintegration for the audience
Tubi CEO Anjali Sud

“We’re hearing from the audience that we’re removing barriers, making it easy, fun and free,” Sud says. “We are on all devices. We don’t have a lot of involvement and friction to start watching content. We have a low ad load and the ability (we have a catalog that gives you that) to go deep into areas that you might not initially think of as something you might want to watch or that other broadcasters don’t show,” Sud notes.

When Sud talks about content that other streamers don’t show, he mentions that unlike some other ad-supported services, Tubi also produces original content under the Originals banner (although I don’t see the quality improving). In addition to giving Netflix bosses sleepless nights, it also offers more independent and classic productions that companies like Netflix or Disney may later ignore.

The licensing fees for these latest titles are quite low compared to newer hits, making classic and indie cinema a secret weapon for the service, and considering the other two movies alternative streaming services – Mubi, specializing in independent and arthouse films, and Criterion Collection, one of the largest distributors of classic cinema in the US, are huge successes It’s a solid strategy in itself.

According to Sud, the biggest reason for Tubi’s growth is due to subscription fatigue. “Even as the market becomes more competitive in the US, we see Tubi gaining even more momentum and adoption because there is a paradox of choice,” he says. “There’s a lot of friction and fragmentation in terms of audiences, so we’ve seen that translate into growth and viewership.”

a rising star

(Image credit: Tubi)

Tubi’s success didn’t happen overnight. It launched in the US in 2014 and quietly raised financing before investing heavily in licensed content in 2019 (one of its biggest deals was the licensing of 400 movies and shows with NBCUniversal).

A year later it was acquired by Fox (the part that Disney didn’t acquire in 2019), which is when it really took off. Fox then acquired MarVista, an established studio that has been distributing third-party content since 2003, in 2021 to bolster Tubi’s library.

Tubi would later be released by Warner Bros. in 2023. struck a deal with Discovery for 11 new FAST channels; this is equivalent to live TV and Same amount as Amazon Freevee received in June 2023 This roughly coincides with Sud taking over the reins from founder Farhad Massoudi.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

When you open Tubi today, you’ll see a ton of great content that you can watch in full without having to sign up or pay for an account – we’ve previously spotted our three favorite thrillers, three great science fiction movies And Five movies with a score of 90% or above on Rotten Tomatoes To name just a few, you’ll also find these Five with over 89% on Rotten Tomatoes in the UK So it’s not just the USA that has good titles. But it wasn’t always like this.

Over the years, Tubi has perfected what Sud describes as its “listening model”; “Starting with a lot of content, learning how to personalize and show people what they’re interested in, and then using that data,” he explains, and getting better and better insights (allows us to expand our library with the right content to deliver more of what people want to watch) ”.

Take England for example; Sud says he feels “the same feeling of fatigue and the feeling that it’s still very difficult to start watching something and find everything you want in one place.” Of course, there are plenty of broadcasters offering free streaming services in the UK; There’s even a service that combines them all in one place: Freely (although not yet widely available) – but they appeal to mass audiences, Tubi’s model is the opposite.

“We want to have broad, diverse and huge content, and we want to help individuals with their unique tastes and preferences,” Sud explains. “We think there is room for this in the UK and indeed there is a need for it. That’s why we’re excited to launch. “This is a strong initial offering, but we will look to grow, invest and become stronger over time, as we have done in the US.”

We fill gaps in the market

(Image credit: Prime Video)

Tubi’s growing popularity comes at a time when most established streaming services are spending less on content and adding more advertising to help fund their operations. Indeed, in the meantime Apple TV Plus once looked like the new HBO, but its golden age may be long over as it began to scale back its productions (it spent more than $20 billion to get just 0.2% of its US broadcast audience, but we still got things like this: Severance pay – Someone Best Apple TV Plus shows).

Following in the footsteps of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney brought its cheaper ad-based layer to the UK in November 2023 Apple TV Plus could be the next step to having an ad-based tier. In another sign that streaming is shifting to cable, Netflix is reportedly Planning a completely free, ad-supported service.

This is all further proof that Tubi’s ad-based free streaming model works. And we can expect it to grow even further. The platform’s audience is pretty broad now, but Sud says there are three main areas of interest where Tubi is seeing a lot of growth: “Younger audiences, more multicultural audiences, and what I call passionate fandoms, so communities that cluster around certain things.” ” Like ‘Wynonna Earpa’ (a community dedicated to Canadian Westerners).”

(Image credit: Shutterstock/Proxima Studio)

“Our general view is that we put the audience at the center,” adds Sud. “Whatever they’re looking for, it’s our job to bring it to them; whether that means making it ourselves, licensing it, finding a creative partnership, we’ll do whatever we have to figure it out and do whatever we have to do to make it happen. There’s nothing there.” It is not sacred.”

Such an approach means Tubi can also help find the next generation of creators by giving smaller filmmakers the chance to get their work in front of a wider audience, while also offering a service that’s as quality as some paid offerings. Indeed, you can use OpenAIThe learning language model will help you find new movies and shows to watch on the platform’s mobile app in the US, giving you the best features from a variety of streaming companies.

“Tubi is trying to match Netflix’s premium content with YouTube’s content discovery and long tail,” says Sud. “We’re trying to somehow bring those two together so that you have a long tail of content: you can find anything and everything, but we also show you what you want to watch.”