Tubi’s lineup of live linear free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels reached the 200 mark this week, incorporating a roster of new programming over the last month.
The Fox-owned FAST service on Monday touted the milestone, which it hit about two years after launching.
“In just two short years, our FAST Channel offering has evolved into a robust and popular pipeline of viewing options across news, sports, and entertainment,” said Adam Lewinson, chief content officer at Tubi, in a statement. “We’re excited to continue delivering a best-in-class streaming experience that combines our massive on-demand library with a large ‘lean-back’ curation of linear channels.”
FASTs often offer both live linear channels (with an experience similar to traditional TV viewing where viewers jump into a program as it’s playing rather than starting it from the beginning whenever they want), as well as on-demand content.
According to Tubi, total viewing time on the free service’s linear channels has grown nearly 165% year over year.
Interestingly, a much higher proportion of Tubi viewers say they’re watching on-demand content versus live channels. According to mid-2022 online survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers conducted by Interpret Research, over 70% of Tubi users claim to watch content on the FAST service via on-demand. Based on the self-reported data, just over 20% of Tubi users say they watch live channels on the platform.
Comparatively, according to Interpret, users of Pluto TV (the FAST service owned by Paramount) “are roughly twice as likely to watch live channels on that service.”
Pluto TV offers more than 300 linear channels, (and more than 1,000 globally), offering both live and on-demand content. In July the FAST service announced it was reshuffling its U.S. content lineup to add new content categories of game shows, daytime TV, home, food, and lifestyle and culture. It also launched show-specific FAST channels including Let’s Make a Deal, The Judge Judy Channel, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!.
In terms of competition, Brett Sappington, VP at Interpret, said that “at present, no one ad-supported streaming service is dominant, so all of the competitors are working to differentiate themselves and attract both viewers and advertisers.”
Based on the survey data, as of mid-2022, 17% of U.S. consumers reported watching FAST channels.
“Over the past two years, the number of content producers that offer channels has multiplied,” Sappington told Fierce. “There are far more channels available, allowing services to be more differentiated.”
Like Pluto, Tubi is a media-owned FAST, as is Xumo, which is owned by Comcast, and NBCUniversal’s free version of Peacock. Other players in the space FAST space include The Roku Channel and Amazon’s Freevee, among others. Leading smart TV makers also offer FAST services as part of their device interfaces, such as Vizio WatchFree+, Samsung TV Plus, and LG Channels.
As Tubi hit its 200-mark milestone, it highlighted additions in the last month such as local news stations from Scripps, including in Indianapolis, Baltimore, Tulsa, Omaha, Tucson, Fort Myers, Buffalo and Las Vegas. With the latest additions, its news category offers over 100 local station feeds across nearly 60 DMAs (including Fox owned and operated TV stations in top DMAs, as well as stations from Tegna, CMG, NBC and ABC). It’s also added entertainment channels from Lionsgate, FilmRise and Cinedigm.
Lifestyle and sports channels are two other key categories for Tubi. Most recently, the free ad-supported turned up a FIFA World Cup FAST channel, dedicated to programming in the lead up to the 2022 soccer sporting event taking place in Qatar.
Free programming available on Tubi appears to be landing in terms of value. In a recent survey from Hub Entertainment Research, 77% of respondents said they got “excellent” or “good” value from the Tubi TV service (Freevee and Pluto TV each got slightly higher percentages at 78% of consumers feeling that way, while The Roku Channel stood out with 84%).
Updated to reflect Pluto TV has over 300 linear channels. An earlier version said it had over 250.