Tubi launches in the UK on July 2nd

Tubi, the free ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corp., is looking to bring its hit formula to the U.K., launching its marketplace on Tuesday, July 2.

The streamer, led by CEO Anjali Sud, the former head of Vimeo, now has about 80 million monthly active users, the executive said. The Hollywood ReporterIn the US, Tubi’s strategy differs from other FAST platforms. For example, 90% of viewers watch movies and TV series on demand, while its competitors focus on live linear channels. And according to Nielsen’s April index, Tubi accounted for 1.7% of all US viewers for that month, just below Disney+.

“Tubi has spent the last decade honing its approach to big, free and fun streaming in North America, and we believe now is the perfect time to bring that recipe to UK audiences,” Sud said at the platform’s UK launch. “We’re launching one of the UK’s largest and most diverse content libraries, designed to give viewers everything from blockbusters to original stories to hidden gems.”

Tubi announced its UK launch with over 20,000 on-demand movies and TV episodes, “including curated content from leading global distributors including Disney, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal and Sony Pictures Entertainment, as well as a robust slate of exclusive Tubi originals. Tubi’s UK content library combines some of the best Hollywood films with modern British classics, and features series from well-known British TV franchises as well as new areas of discovery – from Bollywood and Nollywood to arthouse cinema.

Titles available on Tubi UK at launch include Tubi originals such as horror films Killwhich is dubbed a “drag queen vampire” horror film, and Festival of the Undeadas well as reality TV series House of heat with OnlyFans creators moving in together. Other series available on Tubi UK include Marvel Runaways, Taxi in cash (United Kingdom) and Anthony Bourdain Unknown Parts. And among the films offered, we find in particular Charlie's Angels, Charlie's Angels: Full Speed ​​Ahead, Moonrise Kingdom, Billy Elliot, Twilight: New MoonAnd Twilight: Eclipse.

“At a time when traditional programming feels homogenous and finding what to watch feels like a chore, Tubi has been able to deliver enjoyment beyond monoculture with content that appeals to diverse and vibrant fandoms,” said David Salmon, EVP and General Manager of International at Tubi. “We believe we can create an incredibly broad and culturally ambitious offering that puts UK audiences back at the centre and makes it easy and fun to enjoy great entertainment from around the world.”

“We saw our recipe resonate in North America,” Sud said THR“We are betting that we can make this a really healthy, sustainable and successful business in the UK as well over time.”

David Salmon, executive vice president and general manager, who has played a key role in Tubi's international expansion, which has already taken it to Canada and Latin America, described Tubi's positioning in the UK as “brilliantly broad and very culturally ambitious.” THR: “Yes, we will have Hollywood blockbusters and incredible premium TV episodes. But among the 20,000 movies and TV episodes that we will have at launch, you will also find some weird, wonderful, brilliant, unique things, and there will be segments that you simply cannot find in this medium that tends to be very, very crowded, which is generally very well served by SVOD services.”

The same is true for many UK broadcasters and streamers, the Tubi team believes. “In terms of the UK, we don’t have plans to expand into a huge number of markets this year, so it’s not part of a big global domination strategy,” Sud explained. “We really asked ourselves if there was something unique about the market that could bring value to the UK audience. When we look at traditional broadcasters, there’s a natural tendency to focus on programming for the average audience, for the median viewer, which can lead to a bit of a monocultural approach. The UK is a melting pot, and the culture is changing rapidly. You’ve got a younger audience coming online, and they want to see themselves, their life experiences and the things that matter to them reflected in film and TV, and we have the opportunity to do that.”

Much of Tubi’s initial work will be about “listening” to consumer usage, response and feedback. “It’s about putting the UK viewer at the centre,” Sud explained. “Our perspective right now is: this is day one, let’s earn the right to understand this audience in depth.”

Just like in existing markets, Tubi will be devoting a lot of time and energy to serving fandoms. “It’s not just about numbers and metrics. We want to know if what we’re doing is resonating with the UK public in a way that engages them deeply. Are we building fandoms? Are we delighting and surprising people in a way that validates our hypothesis that we’re bringing something new that’s needed? I think that’s ultimately our measure of success.”

Salmon echoed that. “For us, monetization is a measure of success,” he said. THR“We want people to be on Tubi, we want them to discover the content they love and we want them to really find their place as a true pillar of streaming services in the UK.”

So what fandoms will Tubi cater to in the UK? “We start with hypotheses and we have an idea of ​​fandoms that might be underserved. Then we’ll listen, respond and refine from there,” Sud said. “We’ll have, I think, over 100 premium Bollywood titles. We’ll have a very deep Nollywood catalogue. We’ll have a very deep arthouse collection.”

But management will remain open-minded. “It’s not prescriptive,” Sud said. “It’s a bottom-up culture, not a top-down approach.”

Could original commissions in the UK be a long way off? “If we get to a point where we say, ‘Oh, the right way to serve them is to produce our own content because it doesn’t exist,’ that’s possible,” the CEO explained. “However, where we are now, we think we have to kind of listen and earn that right and drive adoption and engagement with our audience until we really get to a point where we know exactly what problem we’re solving with original content. For now, we’re just going to focus on listening.”

CEO Mentioned Canadian Western Horror Series Wynonna Earpwhich had “a huge following on social media” but was canceled. “We just heard loud and clear, with a lot of passion, that there was a fandom that really wanted more content. So we decided to put out a one-off special.”

Making sure audiences are having fun and watching what they really want to watch is at the core of Tubi’s value proposition. “Entertainment and streaming has gotten too hard, and we’re missing out on the fun,” Sud said. “Also, we’re missing out on the surprise and the delight. Because right now, it feels like this is the talk around the coffee machine, and I have to watch this show, because everyone else is watching it, because it’s supposed to be good. In fact, in our launch campaign, our tagline is, ‘Watch what you really want to watch.’”

She joked that it might seem counterintuitive. “Just think about your own interests, your guilty pleasures, and the things that you’re excited to watch, rather than what a streamer has told you you should watch,” Sud summed up the message to consumers. “We get so much feedback from users about how fun and wonderful and enjoyable the experience is. And that’s really because we have so much content, and we’re really good at personalizing what we show you based on what you tell us.”

That positioning is also something Tubi executives say they live and breathe. “Tubi’s personalization engine is really market-leading and I think has been one of the real secrets to success,” Salmon said. THR“It’s about being able to have a big catalogue but also finding people the right thing at the right time to create these weird and wonderful rabbit holes, as they call them in the States. That’s really part of the secret sauce of Tubi.” Sud adds: “David likes to say we take the guilt out of guilty pleasures.”