Fox’s free ad-supported streaming service Tubi has inked a deal with Lionsgate to exclusively house 30 new upcoming feature films, as well as add more than 200 popular titles to its on-demand library.
As part of the deal, “Shattered,” starring John Malkovich, Frank Grillo, Cameron Monaghan and Lily Krug, is now available on Tubi. The movie “Pursuit” starring John Cusack and Emile Hirsch is coming to the service on June 27 and this fall, “Wolf Hound,” featuring Trevor Donavan, James Maslow and Michael Waney Foster, will join the service.
The deal covers titles that aren’t included under Lionsgate’s Day One theatrical output agreement with Starz.
Adam Lewinson, chief content officer at Tubi, said the addition of 30 free exclusive upcoming releases, along with movies and series from Lionsgate’s content library “will deliver even more value to our viewers.”
Additional upcoming film titles will be announced, featuring talent such as Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Anna Paquin and Martin Lawrence.
“This agreement reflects our ability to have multiple bespoke content licensing deals with an expanding array of buyers in every part of the content ecosystem,” said Lionsgate President of Domestic Television Distribution Ryan Lowerre.
Lionsgate in April entered into a multiyear agreement with The Roku Channel enabling the platform to exclusively stream Lionsgate theatrically released films after they initially premiere on Starz, which is owned by the studio.
“We’re pleased to expand our longstanding relationship with Tubi, a leader among AVOD platforms, to bring an exciting slate of star-driven multiplatform films to their viewers,” Lowerre continued.
Tubi’s AVOD service has a library of more than 40,000 movies and TV shows, including Tubi Originals, and 125 local and live news, sports and entertainment channels. In the first quarter Tubi reached 51 monthly active users, 27% of which aren’t reachable on other AVODs, Tubi CRO Mark Rotblat said during its New Fronts presentation earlier this year.
The Lionsgate deal means new feature film content on the AVOD service, and it also recently announced it will make every game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup available on-demand to bring sports content to viewers.
Speaking last week at the StreamTV Show, Tubi VP of business development Taylor Sibbern said that sports represents a huge content offering that could eventually shift the TV tide from linear broadcast to FAST channels.
“I think we are heading more in that direction,” Sibbern said while calling out Tubi’s World Cup offering as something that will significantly impact U.S.-based viewers and advertisers. “It comes down to what’s available and how the users know it’s available.”
An April report from Rethink Research projects the market for AVOD services will reach $91 billion in advertising revenue by 2027. Fox acquired Tubi for around $440 million and the ad-supported streaming service is expected to bring in around $700 million in revenue by the end of 2022.