Tubi Wants To Enter The Streaming Wars In A Big Way

Tubi Wants To Enter The Streaming Wars In A Big Way

By Chris Evangelista/Jan. 30, 2019 3:30 pm EST

Have you heard of Tubi? I have, but I’ll confess I’ve never used it – mostly because the name Tubi sounds weird to me. But this streaming service is worth checking out for one main reason: it’s free. Of course, that also means it features commercials – but beggars can’t be choosers. The service offers an impressive number of titles – 12,000 movies and TV series – and now plans to add even more by investing over $100 million to expand its library (via TechCrunch). The service also plans to expand outside both the U.S. and Canada.

“In 2018 we at Tubi saw tremendous growth as consumers, fatigued by SVOD subscriptions and services, sought alternative entertainment choices,” said Tubi CEO Farhad Massoudi. “We will continue to use profits to make bigger bets on content, enhance the viewing experience, and continue to press ahead into new grounds in what is our core advantage: technology and data.”

Tubi has several competitors in the free streaming service game. IMDb just launched their own free service; then there’s the Roku Channel, Walmart’s Vudu; Pluto TV; and Comcast plans to launch their own free service to their customers next year. While seeing ad-based content may not appeal to some viewers, getting that content for free is a plus. Sites like this are also benficial for those who want to check out older films. More and more, Netflix is phasing out other studio content to make way for their own. Meanwhile, Tubi boasts it gives subscribers the channce to “Watch amazing movies and TV shows for free. No subscription fees, and no credit cards. Just thousands of hours of streaming video content from studios like Paramount, Lionsgate, MGM and more.”