If you’ve ever taken a look at the enormous pile of streaming services out there and wondered how you’d ever manage to watch all of that, you are not alone. So perhaps instead you’ve decided to tackle the biggest pile first. A good plan, but even here, where do you begin? It turns out that you’re not going to start with Netflix. Or Hulu. Or even Disney+. No, you’re going to be starting with a very unlikely candidate: Tubi.
Data from JustWatch reveals that Tubi is the leader when it comes to total number of streaming titles. By a staggeringly wide margin, too; the study found Tubi boasts over 29,400 titles to its credit. (We should note Tubi itself claims over 35,000 titles.) The next-closest competitor is again not one of the major for-pay services. It’s Roku Channel, coming in with nearly 10,300 titles. (Roku themselves report over 80,000 titles, so we’re unclear about the discrepancy - it could be the difference between counting “titles” and “episodes.”)
Amazon Prime Video places third with 7,972 titles. Pluto TV comes in fourth with 7,749 titles, followed by Netflix at 5,726. Disney+ actually ranks 11th in overall scope of titles available, coming in at the bottom of the study’s list behind Paramount+, HBO Max, Hulu, Discovery+, and even Peacock. Disney+ has just over 1,343 titles to its credit.
Some of the reasoning here shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. The major networks are actually owners of each of these services. Tubi, for example, is a FOX property. Likewise, Hulu and Disney+ are Disney creations. Pluto TV and Paramount+ are both connected to CBS. Peacock is an NBC matter.
Not long ago, we saw how CBS moved a substantial quantity of older series to Pluto TV. That gave Pluto TV a substantial shot in the arm as far as total numbers of titles goes. Meanwhile, some platforms turn to licensing and other measures to improve their rosters. Tubi, for example, not only has a good amount of FOX content, but also has some VH1 and A&E content. You’ll find both “Flavor of Love” and “Intervention,” for example. You will also find a cesspool of zero-budget action movies and soft core adult fare with much (but not all) of its nudity removed.
Netflix built its empire on the back of licensed content. But with studios starting to pull those licenses to move the content to their own platforms, Netflix is spending big on original titles to fight back. That’s a move that’s done very well for Netflix; just look at “Squid Game,” the series is expected to generate $900 million despite costing just $21.4 million to make.
Netflix’s ambitions to be the greatest studio in town are well-known by now, and this is part of why. It’s running badly behind in terms of total titles available, so it’s charging a premium for exclusivity. 83 percent of Netflix’s library is only available on Netflix. That’s valuable, but also tough to maintain. Unless Netflix continues with the hits, subscribers may churn elsewhere.
For now, viewers who find their premium libraries stale can go hunting for something new. And with Tubi, Pluto TV, and the Roku Channel all free, those are easy supplements to choose.