Tubi Announces Record Growth, 2019 Expansion Plans as the World’s Largest Free Service for Movies and Television

Company will spend over nine figures on content in 2019 to dramatically increase library

After hitting major profitability milestone will reinvest in content acquisitions in 2019

Viewing climbs more than 4.3x over 2017

Advertising revenue up over 180%; Q4 2018 advertising revenue was larger than all of 2017 combined

Library now at 12,000 movies and television series from over 200 content partners including most major studios

An image of the main screen of Tubi, a free movie and television streaming service. (Courtesy: Tubi)

SAN FRANCISCO--()--Tubi (www.tubi.tv), the world’s largest ad-supported video on demand (VOD) service, today announced record growth in 2018 and aggressive plans to expand in 2019. Over the past year, Tubi customers watched 4.3 times the amount of content on the service over the previous year – and in December alone streamed nearly as much content as all of 2017. Tubi was profitable in the fourth quarter of 2018, marking a major milestone, and will reinvest the profits into additional content acquisitions in the coming year. This includes investing over nine figures to rapidly grow its already large catalog. Finally, revenue grew over 180% in 2018 – and in the fourth quarter alone, Tubi made more revenue than all of 2017 combined.

Tubi’s library has rapidly expanded to more than 12,000 movies and television series which makes its content volume more than double in size to Netflix – and it has approximately 40,000 hours of content. Tubi consistently ranks as one of the most watched apps on the world’s largest platforms including Amazon’s Fire TV, Roku iOS, Android, and many others.

Additional highlights include:

  • Tubi’s overall viewership (total hours watched) grew by more than 4.3x year over year (December to December)
  • With linear TV ratings in continuing decline, advertising demand for OTT is strongest from brands replacing lost reach with their TV spend. In 2018, over 1,000 advertisers ran campaigns on Tubi, with the majority of the top CPG and automotive advertisers reaching audiences in movies and TV shows on Tubi
  • Horizon Media, a global leader in data and marketing insights, has signed a strategic partnership with Tubi. Horizon will provide their clients with access to Tubi’s premium OTT ad inventory with preferred terms
  • Tubi has secured an agreement with Rogers Media, one of Canada’s largest media companies, to be the exclusive sales representative for Tubi’s advertising in the Canadian market
  • Late last year, Tubi became the third streaming service to be made available on Comcast’s X1 platform – behind Netflix and YouTube

Looking ahead to 2019, Tubi also announced the following:

  • Tubi will launch in additional international territories this year with the first expected to be announced in Q1. Presently the service is available in the US and Canada
  • Tubi closed a $25 million growth capital facility with Silicon Valley Bank. The proceeds will help fund growth across all fronts including content acquisition and marketing

“In 2018 we at Tubi saw tremendous growth as consumers, fatigued by SVOD subscriptions and services, sought alternative entertainment choices,” said Farhad Massoudi, CEO of Tubi. “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.”

Headquartered in San Francisco, Tubi (www.tubi.tv) is the world’s largest ad-supported video on demand service with over 12,000 movies and television shows from nearly every major Hollywood studio. The service gives fans of films and television programs an easy way to discover new content which is available completely free. Currently available in the US and Canada, Tubi can be accessed through a large number of devices and apps including Samsung televisions, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Comcast’s X1, iOS, and Android. A full list of devices can be found here: https://tubitv.com/static/devices. Tubi is backed by Foundation Capital, Cota Capital, Jump Capital, and Danhua Capital, as well as strategic investors MGM, Lionsgate, and TEGNA Ventures.

Contacts

Peter Binazeski
Head of Communications
Tubi
323-206-5077
pbinazeski@tubi.tv

George Cabico
The Lippin Group
323-801-7459
gcabico@lippingroup.com

Release Summary

TUBI ANNOUNCES RECORD GROWTH, 2019 EXPANSION PLANS AS THE WORLD’S LARGEST FREE SERVICE FOR MOVIES AND TELEVISION

Contacts

Peter Binazeski
Head of Communications
Tubi
323-206-5077
pbinazeski@tubi.tv

George Cabico
The Lippin Group
323-801-7459
gcabico@lippingroup.com