Market analysis project on Tubi

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A Market Analysis for
Tubi TV
Tyler Madison
Full Sail University
Project & Portfolio II: Business and Marketing
10-20-2023

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report is a market analysis of the thriving free video streaming service Tubi,
examining how the company performs in its market and the potential causes of its growing
popularity. As Fox Corporation’s strongest subsidiary, Tubi’s success is gauged by
streaming data, consumer engagement findings, and market reports provided by Neilsen.
This analysis reveals the strengths and weaknesses of Tubi’s business model and service
offerings, and opportunities for growth.

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OBJECTIVE
This report seeks to analyze the recent success of the company, investigate customer
habits and interests, and address concerns. The client is currently testing new features and
looking to form business partnerships that can achieve their goal(s).
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The information gathered for this report will be qualitative, from online databases,
external internet articles, and Tubi’s own reports. Most of the findings will be from the
past 5 years, the newest being from 2023 and the oldest being from 2014. There is limited
information on the success of Tubi Media Group as the development of the division took
place this year in 2023.
RESEARCH AND KEY FINDINGS
Tubi is an American FAST (free ad-supported
television) service that is owned by Fox Corporation. The
streaming platform owns one of the biggest streaming
libraries, with over 200,000 titles of domestic, international,
and original content (Tubi TV, 2023c). Tubi launched in 2010
under AdRise spearheaded by former CEO Farhad Massoudi.
The first installation of Tubi’s content library featured 20,000 independent, classic, and
international films and shows that were otherwise unavailable to American users
(Spangler, 2014). In almost 15 years of operation, Tubi has since become available in
Mexico, Canada, and Australia, features more popular content, is consistently releasing
original works and as of 2023, Tubi TV has amassed over 74 million monthly users; 10

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million more than its earlier numbers reported in February of the same year. (Forristal,
2023).
Fox Corporation is an entertainment and news broadcasting company, formed in
2019 by the Murdoch family following 21st
Century Fox’s 11-figure acquisition and
prompt dissolvement by Disney (Petski, 2019).
One of the first business decisions of the newly
formed Fox Corp was the acquisition of Tubi in
2020 for $440 million. An expansion further into the digital market, which includes
improvements to its advertising opportunities, consumer relations, and personalization
features is the primary focus of Fox’s current motives. Tubi is among the newer FAST
services, and before its acquisition by Fox Corp, was greatly successful, with its monthly
active users reaching 25 million, and total view time being over 163 million by the end of
2019 (Tubi TV, 2020). Fox primarily uses Tubi’s ad revenue to support itself and other
subsidiary ventures. According to Lachlan Murdoch of the Murdoch family and current
CEO of Fox, “Tubi provides a substantial base from which we will drive long-term growth
in the direct-to-consumer area” (Shieber, 2020). Falling in line with several other television
companies seeking to keep up with modern media trends by offering free subscription
content, like Viacom through Pluto and Comcast through Xumo (Spangler, 2020), Fox’s
development of Tubi Media Group is proving to be a fruitful step towards their digital
expansion, citing their company’s upward growth as reason for their lead in the domestic
AVOD race (PR Newswire, 2023).
Tubi’s main draw for consumers is free content and subscription model. As of 2023,
many paid subscription streaming services have significantly raised their prices, as much

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as up to 10%, and are expected to continue to increase prices, claiming the reason behind
the spikes are slowing subscription rates following the shift from the pandemic standards
(Lee & Lauder, 2023). Despite this revelation, Tubi’s own collected data shows that 51% of
streamers are more inclined to abandon cable and paid subscription services, prefer
shortform ad breaks, and tailored content and recommendations. The data also highlights
advertiser insight, where Tubi’s partners are seeing growth in monthly active users, the
prevalence of young and multicultural demographics, and new opportunities to reach
audiences that were previously unreachable were cited as key drivers for AVOD ad spend.
4 out of 5 advertisers are putting more value on their ad placements on streaming
platforms (Tubi TV, 2023a). In
February of 2023, Tubi placed 9th on the
Nielsen streaming snapshot, moving out
of The Gauge’s “other streaming” entry,
and becoming the most watched FAST
service in the US (Tubi TV, 2023b).
Tubi’s current demographics are predominantly young and ethnically diverse.
Fox’s main demographics in 2018 (presented by Nielsen) were reported to be
predominantly white, with a median age of 66 (Schaal, 2019). In comparison to its parent
company, about half of Tubi’s user base are under 35 years of age, and 39% of the users
are of a Black, Asian, or Hispanic background (Tubi TV, 2021). As Tubi becomes available
to more countries, this will most likely drive the platform to expand their content, language
options, and give advertisers an opportunity to reach unique consumer bases.
According to consumer data and site reviews, Tubi’s current business model and
features leave much to be desired in several areas such as parental controls, content

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quality, and offline availability. Currently, Tubi doesn’t support downloads or usage
without an internet connection, and the streaming resolution peaks at 720p. The site also
has no preventative measures for parental control bypassing outside of authorized
accounts, there are no individual user profile creation options, thus leaving the parental
control settings accessible only by password (PCMag, 2023). In a Common Sense Privacy
Program evaluation for Tubi, it was noted that while users have access to their data and
authorized users can modify the available data, the data is ultimately collected and used to
the 3rd party advertisers’ discretion (Common Sense Privacy Evaluation for Tubi TV, n.d.).
Tubi, while being greatly popular, has very limited availability worldwide, despite
housing many international titles as an American platform. This leaves many streamers
who live in regions that restrict the use of Tubi to only be able to access the platform
through VPN services. The company is currently working towards adjusting itself to
comply with several countries’ General Data Protection Regulations. Tubi has previously
attempted to expand into the UK but failed to meet the European Union’s requirement of
streaming services having at least 30% of its libraries dedicated to content produced locally
to the region (Blustein, 2019).
CONCLUSIONS
Tubi is in a prime position to further catapult themselves into a more powerful
position, as they have a unique offering to the market with its free content. As a
significantly successful subsidy of Fox, Tubi proves its business model, while not without its
flaws, is very effective in achieving Fox’s goals and exceeding performance expectations
regarding consumer relations. It is also important to note the current economy is seeing
skyrocketing prices in every industry, and half of all streaming service users making the

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decision to cancel their paid subscriptions in favor of ad based free streaming services
(Moore-Colyer, 2023). Tubi can take advantage of this shift by making meaningful
partnerships that will draw in more consumers, better the quality of their content, and
bring them opportunities to expand and strengthen their company’s position in the market.
In reference to the concerns, it is commonplace for streaming services to restrict
downloads (PCMag, 2023). The potential for 3rd party advertising data misuse is among the
more pressing concerns for both the consumer and Tubi as a company. If not addressed
accurately, this could influence Tubi’s consumers to migrate to alternative services they
deem safer for their information, resulting in them losing valuable business, difficulty
maintaining the stronger partnerships with advertisers, and momentum in the streaming
race. Tubi’s content, while vast and inclusive, is mostly unavailable to many regions due to
licensing laws and regional GDPRs.
RECOMMENDATIONS
One recommendation for capitalizing on the favorable findings (high stream count,
diverse consumer base, and free service) is offering a credit system based on subscription
holders’ viewing of advertisements, that can accrue to give them 1 ad free selection. This
would encourage more subscriptions and usage from streamers through a reward system.
Tubi could also consider branching into offline features to make up for the inability for
users to stream offline content. This could come in the form of little games, like Google’s
offline T-Rex game, or finding a way to place advertising on offline content for viewers who
don’t have access to a stable internet connection.
For Tubi’s underdeveloped advertising restrictions, the company might consider
implementing more specific and discretional conditions for their advertising partners,

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primarily ones of operating on political grounds, so they can make themselves more
suitable for potential international partnerships, prompting a better financial performance
in the next fiscal quarter.
REFERENCES
Blustein, A. (2019, September 5). How GDPR, ad fatigue and content costs are complicating the
now-global streaming wars. The Drum.
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/09/04/how-gdpr-ad-fatigue-and-content-costs-are-
complicating-the-now-global-streaming-wars
Chcom. (2022). Fox Corporation. CompaniesHistory.com - the Largest Companies and Brands
in the World. https://www.companieshistory.com/fox-corporation/
Common Sense privacy Evaluation for Tubi TV. (n.d.).
https://privacy.commonsense.org/evaluation/Tubi-TV
Forristal, L. (2023, September 6). Tubi sees impressive growth, with over 74M monthly active
users. TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/06/tubi-gains-over-74m-monthly-
active-users/
Lee, W., & Lauder, T. S. (2023, October 11). Why video streaming services are getting more
expensive - Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-10-11/streaming-pricier-
consumers-netflix-spotify-sag-aftra-strike
Moore-Colyer, R. (2023, July 6). New survey says 50% of people are canceling or cutting back
on streaming services. Tom’s Guide. https://www.tomsguide.com/news/new-survey-says-
50-of-people-are-canceling-or-cutting-back-on-streaming-services
PCMag. (2023, March 7). Tubi Review. PCMAG. https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/tubi

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Petski, D. (2019, March 12). Deadline. Deadline. https://deadline.com/2019/03/disney-sets-
march-20-closing-date-for-21st-century-fox-acquisition-1202574146/
PR Newswire. (2023, April 26). Fox Corporation Announces Formation of Tubi Media Group.
PR Newswire US. Fox Corporation announces formation of Tubi Media Group:
EBSCOhost. (n.d.).
https://web.s.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=cc7b9762-5884-4c4c-94a7-
8c25dfb0e857%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=20230426
1303PR.NEWS.USPR.NY82424&db=bwh
Schaal, E. (2019, January 11). How old is the average Fox News viewer in America? Showbiz
Cheat Sheet. https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/how-old-is-the-average-fox-
news-viewer-in-america.html/
Spangler, T. (2014, April 16). Variety. Variety. https://variety.com/2014/digital/news/tubi-tv-
free-internet-video-service-launches-with-20000-shows-and-movies-most-of-which-
youve-never-heard-of-1201158144/
Spangler, T. (2020, March 17). Variety. Variety. https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/fox-corp-
tubi-acquires-440-million-sells-roku-1203537320/
Tubi TV. (2020, March 5). TUBI ANNOUNCES RECORD GROWTH FOR 2019 - TubiTV
Corporate. TubiTV Corporate. https://corporate.tubitv.com/press/tubi-announces-record-
growth-for-2019/
Tubi TV. (2021, January 19). TUBI UNVEILS AUDIENCE REPORT, THE STREAM,
OUTLINING KEY INSIGHTS SHAPING STREAMING AND TV AD STRATEGIES -
TubiTV Corporate. TubiTV Corporate. https://corporate.tubitv.com/press/tubi-unveils-
audience-report-the-stream-outlining-key-insights-shaping-streaming-and-tv-ad-
strategies/

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Tubi TV. (2023a, February 14). TUBI RELEASES NEW FINDINGS ON STREAMING TV
TRENDS IN ITS ANNUAL REPORT, THE STREAM 2023: ACTIONABLE
AUDIENCE INSIGHTS FOR BRANDS - TubiTV Corporate. TubiTV Corporate.
https://corporate.tubitv.com/press/tubi-releases-new-findings-on-streaming-tv-trends-in-
its-annual-report-the-stream-2023-actionable-audience-insights-for-brands/
Tubi TV. (2023b, March 16). TUBI MAKES DEBUT ON NIELSEN’S THE GAUGE AS IT
REACHES 1% TOTAL VIEWING MINUTES - TubiTV Corporate. TubiTV Corporate.
https://corporate.tubitv.com/press/tubi-makes-debut-on-nielsens-the-gauge-as-it-reaches-
1-total-viewing-minutes/
Tubi TV. (2023c, October 17). About us - TubiTV Corporate. TubiTV Corporate.
https://corporate.tubitv.com/
Watch free TV & movies online | Stream full length videos | Tubi. (n.d.). Tubi.
https://tubitv.com/