Tubi’s rise and why Hollywood should be concerned
Last montha free, ad-supported streaming TV company (FAST) reached a rating milestone:
A Tubi movie has made it into the streaming ratings charts!
Tuba Bloodline Killer appeared on Luminate’s viewership charts for the week of June 28 with 700,000 hours watched. While this would be even more impressive if Luminate, which only recently started making its charts public, tracked more than just streaming movies, it’s still an accomplishment! (Note: Nielsen does not include FAST channels in its top ten.)
Tubi and its FAST peers – Pluto TV, Amazon Freevee and the Roku Channel – have gone from fringe notes in the streaming wars to major players that grow every year. Why are these services growing? And why is Fox-owned Tubi doing so well? (Its recent UK launch for the “broke, Letterboxd generation” was covered by my colleague Manori Ravindran.)
I usually tone down the hype here, but not today. I love the potential of FASTs. Free video could be as disruptive as premium streaming video was a decade ago – and just as destructive to Hollywood’s bottom line.
In today’s article you will learn…
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What Tubi has in its library and why it resonates with audiences
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What percentage of the total viewership do FASTs now have compared to paid streamers?
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What the home screens of networked TVs have to do with it
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The main reason people leave paid streaming services
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What Tubi’s success tells us about Disney, Paramount and WBD’s stock market problems
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Three myths about why FAST services are successful
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Three reasons – and one in particular – that actually explain their success
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How Netflix’s rise in the early 2010s sheds light on Tubi’s growth today
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Why the FAST business model must evolve if it is to completely transform Hollywood
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