Tubi Hits 78 Million Monthly Active Users; 62% of Viewers Prefer Free Ad-Supported Services to Paid Ad-Free
Tubi has partnered with The Harris Poll to unleash some fascinating new insights on the streaming industry.
Things have been going exceptionally well for Fox-owned free, ad-supported streaming service Tubi. When Fox last reported viewership details for the streamer in September 2023, Tubi averaged 78 million monthly active users. Now, the free streaming service has teamed up with The Harris Poll for a new report that digs deep into the viewing habits of millennial and Gen Z audiences, a core demographic for all streaming services, and it holds invaluable insights into what younger cord-cutters are looking for in a streamer.
- Tubi surpassed 8.5 billion total hours streamed in 2023 and saw a 59% increase in year-over-year viewing time.
- Sixty-three percent of Tubi streamers are cord-cutters and cord-nevers, and 30% are unreachable on other major ad-supported streamers.
- Sixty-two percent of audiences prefer free, ad-supported streamers like Tubi to on-demand streaming plans with no ads.
Tubi’s 78 million monthly users are impressive, but not quite at the level of the 120 million households that The Roku Channel reached in the fourth quarter of 2023. Nevertheless, Tubi set new records for total viewing time in 2023, seeing a 59% year-over-year increase. All in all, Tubi was streamed for more than 8.5 billion cumulative hours in 2023.
The streamer also cites the MRI-Simmons’ November 2023 Cord Evolution Study, which shows that 63% of its viewers are cord-nevers; that is, customers who have never paid for a cable or satellite subscription. Furthermore, 30% of Tubi audiences are unreachable on other ad-supported streaming platforms like The Roku Channel or Pluto TV, suggesting the streamer has built an admirable degree of loyalty among its viewers.
The same survey found that Tubi is highly popular with young, diverse audiences. In 2023, the service saw 60% year-over-year growth among viewers aged 18-34 and 55% or more growth in multicultural demos, including Latino, Black, and LGBTQ+ audiences.
What Did Tubi’s New Report with The Harris Poll Reveal About Streaming Audiences?
The survey from Tubi and The Harris Poll included details about how much Americans were paying for their streaming services. The report indicates that American consumers pay $120 per month for their TV plans, including streaming and cable options.
That has led viewers to increasingly adopt ad-supported streaming options, like Tubi. Fifty-eight percent of respondents to the poll said that they would rather opt for ad-supported options of paid streaming services, and 62% say they prefer to watch free ad-supported streamers instead of paying for a streamer. Additionally, 58% say they would rather have a free ad-supported account of their own than share a paid streaming account with someone else. This is key as Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery prepare to roll out streaming password-sharing restrictions, though as of now, neither company has a free ad-supported streaming option imminently set to hit the market.
The report also has news for streaming services that are planning to lean heavily on the franchises owned by their parent companies. At a rate of 74%, millennials and Gen Z respondents said that they preferred originals to franchises or remakes. This would seem to counter Disney CEO Bob Iger's recent argument that franchise fatigue is not the main factor behind slumping box office receipts from Marvel Cinematic Universe titles.
Finally, the survey provides insights for Apple TV+ as it potentially experiments with adding library content for the first time. That streamer recently added a selection of more than 50 movies, and may be ready to branch out from its originals-only content strategy. The report from Tubi and The Harris Poll indicates that 96% of all American viewers are interested in watching titles that are 10 years old or older, which the survey labels as “nostalgia viewing.”
That’s good news for most streamers, especially for free ad-supported platforms that offer a larger variety of these nostalgic shows and movies via their on-demand libraries and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels. But it could serve as a warning sign for Apple TV+, which has thus far resisted efforts to license catalog titles from other production houses up to now.
Tubi is an undeniable success, with its 78 million monthly active users and billions of hours streamed every year. The streamer has also thrown its hat into the data collection and analysis ring, and its study performed in conjunction with The Harris Poll has some important points for all streaming providers to take note of.
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.”