Free streamer Tubi achieves profitability for the first time
Free streamer Tubi achieves profitability for the first time
Lachlan Murdoch expanded on the results of Tubi and Fox One during the company’s most recent quarter, including the fact that Tubi is now profitable.
When Fox posted its earnings result for the quarter ending on Sept. 30 on Thursday morning, the information was light on details about its two streaming services. Apparently, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch wanted to save all the good news so he could tell it to analysts directly on the traditional conference call to discuss those earnings results. Murdoch had much more to say about the free streaming service Tubi, as well as comments about the new streamer Fox One.
Key Details:
- In the black: Tubi became profitable for the first time in the most recent quarter.
- Strong underlying numbers: Tubi’s revenue growth rose by 27%, and viewing time was up 18%.
- Modest growth only: Murdoch reiterated he didn’t expect to see a huge number of subscribers come to Fox One in the future.
Murdoch had plenty to say on Tubi during his conference call, but the most notable news about the service was that it had hit profitability for the first time in Fox’s most recent quarter. The ad-supported streaming service is one of the first to show profitability on its own, and has beaten some major paid streaming services like Peacock to the punch.
Revenue growth was up 27% during the quarter, and viewing time increased by another 18%. In the medium-term, Murdoch laid out the expectation that Tubi would contribute meaningfully to Fox’s EBITDA, with margins in the 20% to 25% range.
There may even be more content investment dollars headed to Tubi in the future as a result of its promising earnings. Murdoch said that a faster-than-expected move into profitability for Tubi “will likely lead to a partial moderation in overall investment expected to be deployed across the digital operation this year.”
There wasn’t as much explicit detail offered on the status of Fox One, which launched for the company during the quarter. All Murdoch would say is that the streamer is “additive” to Fox’s overall streaming customer total, but doesn’t aspire to move past the “low to mid” number of subs. Fox makes a good deal of revenue from its broadcast and cable channels, and the goal of Fox One has always been to avoid cannibalizing customers on those platforms and missing out on the revenue they provide.
Fox beat Wall Street estimates in its quarterly earnings report on Thursday, and the good news kept on coming during Murdoch’s conference call with analysts. Tubi has joined the ranks of profitable streaming services, and it seems Fox One is on track in the way the company wants as well.
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Tubi
Tubi is a free video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 200,000+ movies and TV episodes - more than any other streaming service. Its ad breaks are shorter and less frequent than most free services. Fox executives have called their service “TV on steroids.”
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Fox One
Launched August 21, 2025, Fox One is a direct-to-consumer streaming service from Fox Corporation. Billed as a “major digital initiative,” Fox One brings together the full range of Fox’s leading news, sports, and entertainment brands, offering live and on-demand access in one unified platform.
