Tubi Tops 110 Million Users, Posts Record Revenue Quarter

Q: As Tubi hits a billion dollars in revenue, what hidden price are viewers actually paying for this free streaming service?

Viewers are mainly paying with their attention, personal data and reduced control over how they are tracked. Tubi’s $1 billion business is built on advertising, so the service is free only in cash terms. Every user is part of an ad-supported audience that brands pay to reach. That means regular ad breaks are the basic tradeoff. Reports comparing free streaming platforms show Tubi’s ad load is generally lighter than some rivals, but viewers still give up uninterrupted viewing. The less visible cost is data collection. Tubi’s privacy policy says it gathers registration details, device information, viewing activity, cookies and pixels, and information from advertisers, analytics firms, social platforms and business partners. It uses that data to recommend content, measure performance and deliver targeted ads. It may also share data with service providers, affiliates, advertisers and partners for cross-channel and interest-based advertising. That makes viewers more valuable to advertisers because they are not just watching; they are producing behavioral data about what they watch, when they watch, on what device and sometimes where. Tubi says users can opt out of tailored ads through privacy tools, but it does not respond to Do Not Track signals, so control is partial rather than absolute. So the hidden price of “free” streaming is not a subscription bill. It is a commercial exchange in which viewers trade time, data and privacy for access to movies, shows and live events.

3 articles · Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Aug 6

110 million monthly active users and a highest-ever quarterly revenue haul mark a new milestone for Fox-owned Tubi, which now generates more than $1 billion annually.
14% audience growth and 17% gains in time watched helped drive the record quarter, reinforcing Tubi's bet that viewers want free, on-demand entertainment without higher subscription prices.
20 million viewers used Tubi's World Cup hub, giving sports a central role in the platform's growth even as it avoids bidding for costly NFL or NBA rights.
Fox is also using Tubi to expand digital advertising and creator-led programming, as rivals including Netflix and Disney push further into ad-supported and free-tier strategies.