The Wes Anderson classic Moonrise Kingdom, the Channel 4 sitcom Fresh Meat, a reality TV series about adult content creators, some Bollywood hits and a handful of shark flicks: Tubi’s home screen is not short of viewing options, just like the British video-streaming market it waded into this week.
Tubi is taking on the likes of Netflix, Disney+, ITVX and the BBC’s iPlayer with a free, ad-funded service offering 20,000 films and TV episodes, and an ambition of repeating its success in the US, where it has amassed nearly 80 million monthly users. But will it have a similar impact in the UK, where rival platforms are already well established?
Anjali Sud, Tubi’s chief executive, says the platform has succeeded in North America because it appeals to audiences that are underserved by rivals. “Often the reason they are coming to Tubi is they are seeing content and stories that make them feel seen,” she says.
Bollywood titles and arthouse flicks are among the genres on offer that Sud feels will work in the UK, and the company is “very good at listening” to what audiences want, she says, meaning that output with be tweaked over time.
Tubi, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation, has a catalogue featuring content from Disney, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal and Sony Pictures Entertainment, as well its own original productions, such as the adult reality show House of Heat.
“We have seen our model grow and resonate in the US and Canada despite these markets getting far more competitive,” says Sud.
The UK is a crowded market, dominated at the paid-for end by Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime, while ad-funded services such as ITVX (which has an ad-free premium tier), Channel 4 and Amazon-backed Freevee operate free-to-view streaming alongside the BBC’s highly popular, licence fee-funded iPlayer. Tubi believes that its eclectic mix of content that has appealed to young and ethnically diverse audiences in the US, as well as cable refuseniks, will nonetheless gain a foothold.
The upper echelons of the UK market are a mix of paid-for and free services. Netflix and iPlayer are watched by more than 50% of UK households, according to the market research firm Kantar Worldpanel, with ITVX next at just under 40%, Channel 4 at 35% and Amazon Prime at 31%. Much further down the list are Freevee at 9% and fellow ad-based streamer the Roku Channel at 3.4%.
Kantar’s global insight director, Dominic Sunnebo, says the UK’s free, ad-funded streaming market has grown a lot over the past 12 months. “It’s not pushing SVOD [subscription video on demand] out of the market by any means, but viewers are increasingly engaging with these platforms,” he says.
Sunnebo suggests that the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and Now TV will not be fazed by Tubi’s arrival, but it will increase pressure on rivals in the free, ad-funded space. “Those players have had fairly easy growth until now,” he says, adding that Tubi’s content mix – the home screen contains a mix of older films and TV series, as well as niche genres like Korean and Nollywood movies – will also appeal. “It’s filler to some extent and there is a need for that. Sometimes people just want to flick on the TV and watch something light.”
Rahul Patel, a senior research manager at Ampere Analysis, says ad-funded services are the main growth area now: “Consumers are essentially saying we are at our limit in terms of services we want to pay for.” Ampere’s latest video streaming service data also points to the dominance of social media: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok take up four of the places in its top 10.
Despite the formidable competition for eyeballs, Tubi believes that its content will find a home with specific audiences in the UK. It points to strong growth in the US over the past year among younger audiences and those from minority demographics including black, Hispanic and LGBTQ+ viewers.
Tom Harrington, the head of television at Enders Analysis, however, is sceptical about this argument. “No one is truly underserved by the UK market. Streaming means that almost everything that has ever been made is already available somewhere.”
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He says the catalogues of some free, ad-supported services have to compete with public service broadcasters such as ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC, who make content specifically for UK viewers. The UK broadcaster content is “original, more sought after and more relevant for the UK audience”, he adds.
There are UK programmes on Tubi, but fare such as Mary Berry’s Absolute Favourites and Fresh Meat is up against ITVX’s Love Island, Mr Bates vs the Post Office and Douglas is Cancelled and the iPlayer’s vast homegrown repertoire.
Sud says Tubi wants to gauge what UK viewers want from its service before spending money on domestic programming. “We have to understand what UK audiences like before we commission content,” she says.
Its pitch is that there remains enough room in the market, and enough appeal in its catalogue, to provide more of what a much fought-over British audience wants.
How streamers compare for popularity in the UK
Percentage of UK households who watched each video streaming service in the first three months of 2024:
iPlayer: 52.7
Netflix: 51
iTVX: 38.6
Channel4: 34.6
Amazon Prime Video: 30.7
Disney+: 27.7
WBD (inc d+ BT/TNT EuroSport): 17.7
Paramount+: 10.6
Freevee: 8.7
Apple TV+: 7.9
NOW: 6.9
Pluto TV: 4.7
Samsung TV Plus: 4
Roku Channel: 3.4
Peacock: 1.8
Hayu: 1.2
DAZN: 1
Starzplay: 0.8
Source: Kantar Worldpanel
