Coinciding with the release of an annual streaming report, Fox’s Tubi on Tuesday disclosed business metrics including 59% growth in total viewing time on the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service to reach over 8.5 billion streaming hours in 2023.
Fox previously discussed growth at Tubi during the company’s most recent earnings call, where it reported 17% growth in quarterly advertising revenue, as well as 62% growth in total view time with nearly 2.5 billion streaming hours for the period – and December alone setting a new monthly record for the service at 855 million total viewing hours.
Tubi now counts 78 million monthly active users, up from 70 million at the end of September. Since last June, the FAST has consistently snagged around 1.4% share of U.S. TV time each month (including 1.5% in January) – outpacing competing FASTs The Roku Channel and Pluto TV, as well as regularly beating out share for SVODs Paramount+, Peacock and Max, based on Nielsen’s The Gauge monthly snapshots.
Alongside usage stats were findings from the FAST’s “The Stream 2024: Streaming Insights for Marketers” report, including survey data conducted by The Harris Poll for Tubi. The Tubi report, perhaps unsurprisingly, found viewers – particularly younger Gen Z and millennials – are keen on free ad-supported streaming services with features offered by those like Tubi.
In a survey of over 5,000 adults aged 18 and older that stream video at least one hour a week, Tubi’s report found that with Americans on average spending $120 a month on streaming, more than half of younger viewers (53%) feel they’re overspending on streaming and most (62%) would rather watch ads on a free service than pay full price for an ad-free experience. With cost being important to Gen Z and millennials, 71% said they’d cancel in the face of tiered subscription plans that require them to pay more to view certain content.
That said, the survey found there’s no shortage of streaming or binge watching happening, with 56% of all respondents reporting streaming 1-3 hours of programming in one sitting and 40% streaming three or more hours at a time. Top attractions viewers said would keep them engaged with a service include a broad selection of shows and movies (69%), new or original content (61%) and different genres or categories (50%) – while 52% said easy navigation helps keep them watching.
The report also suggested contextual advertising can be a good fit for streaming, with 67% of all viewers reporting a preference for ads that are related to the content they’re streaming.
On the content side, viewer preferences appear to align with some of the types of programming Tubi serves up, including younger audiences desire for original and diverse content from independent creators, as well as older “nostalgic” or “new to me” content.
According to the survey, three-quarters of Gen Z and millennials prefer originals to remakes, while the same amount said they want to see diversity and representation in TV and movies they stream. Many younger viewers also agreed (71%) they’d like to see more TV shows and movies that are independent or from smaller creators, with most (64%) enjoying content from small creators “because they feel they’re supporting creators directly.”
Tubi itself has made forays into both original and independent content. That includes a partnership in November with the Black List to commission five original films for distribution on Tubi, as part of a larger effort to bring underrepresented voices to the Fox-owned platform. Tubi original movies developed through the partnership are expected to arrive on the service as early as 2025. Tubi was specifically seeking scripts targeting young and diverse audiences, across five genre categories.
As for nostalgia viewing, the report found TV and films that are more than 10 years old resonate across the board, with a whopping 96% of respondents interested in taking a trip down TV memory lane. The top reason for Gen Z and millennials watching content that’s over a decade old were: “It’s good” (67%), “nostalgia” (64%), “tradition” (49%), and the hunt for “new-to-me” content (39%).
Tubi’s library includes over 200,000 movies and TV episodes, exclusive originals and over 250 live linear channels.
“Viewers love Tubi because we provide frictionless access to a massive library of content where they can experience the thrill of discovering entertainment they can’t find anywhere else,” said Cynthia Clevenger, SVP of B2B Marketing at Tubi, in a statement. “Tubi’s growth reflects a broader consumer shift towards ad-supported streaming and understanding next gen audiences is critical for us to create a differentiated streaming experience.”