In the past few weeks, ad-sponsored streamer Tubi has seen a 22 percent rise in total users, reports Adweek. The lack of major sports, coupled with America’s self-isolation due to the coronavirus, has resulted in a huge spike in viewership.
This is a pattern repeated in the streaming universe. TV measurement firm Alphonso claims the number of new unique streaming viewers is up 25 percent since Jan. 31.
Tubi CRO Mark Rotblat told the ad magazine: “What we’re facing [with COVID-19] is unprecedented here and is hopefully something we bounce back quickly from, but what’s unique is how most of the country is sheltering in place at home and looking for new things to do … The growth we’re seeing now really puts a focal point around the places where we’ve already been having some growth for some time.”
A plus for Tubi is its inventory. The AVOD claims over 20,000 titles, “almost four-times the library of Netflix,” Tubi founder and CEO Farhad Massoudi told a CES audience in January.
A second advantage, since production has halted, it that Tubi doesn’t produce original content. In fact, movies are its most popular titles at the moment, such as “Marauders, “Gods of Egypt” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
That may be a reflection, in part, of the dearth of sports programming, which is having a serious impact on the TV world. The MLB, NBA and NHL are all on hiatus for the foreseeable future. (Major League Baseball has chosen to rerun classic games.) So is the closure of movie theaters, causing some major Hollywood studios to screen on-demand.
Tubi was recently acquired by Fox in a $440 million deal.