Tubi to double originals output while keeping primary focus on library content

The Freak Brothers, Tubi’s first original animated comedy

Fox’s ad-supported streaming platform Tubi is looking to double its output of original projects to around 80 in the year ahead, but offering a deep catalogue of library content will continue to be its primary focus.

That’s according to according to Fox Corporation chief operating officer John Nallen, who said at the 30th Annual Deutsche Bank Media, Internet & Telecom Conference on Tuesday that Tubi has quickly become a “core business” for Fox since its US$440m acquisition two years ago.

As it stands, Tubi has around 41,000 titles in its library, up from around 25,000 titles when Fox first made its purchase. While the platform will continue to commission originals, library acquisitions are the main focus in the years ahead, said Nallen.

“What you should assume is the lion’s share of Tubi’s programming going into the future will be [library programming]. Now, we’ve augmented that with originals but not to the scale of the originals you’ve seen from the SVoD [players],” he added.

“We put 40 new originals on Tubi in the last year – we’ll probably double that number next year… but I think this balance between heavy, heavy concentration on deep library and a few originals is how you’ll see the programming of Tubi for the future. Not [just] for the near future but for the distant future.”

Tubi’s slate of originals includes The Freak Brothers, an adult animated series featuring Woody Harrelson, John Goodman, Tiffany Haddish, Adam Devine, Blake Anderson and Pete Davidson; true crime series Meet, Marry, Murder; and TV movies Crushed and Romeo & Juliet Killers. In addition. when Fox acquired MarVista Entertainment in December, it did so with an eye to producing content for Tubi.

According to numbers released by Fox last month, Tubi clocked up 3.6 billion hours of streaming in 2021, up 40% from the prior year.

Nallen also outlined some of the advantages of the AVoD business model, which has gathered significant momentum over the past two years, with the exec noting that 95% of the 41,000 titles available on Tubi are offered under a revenue-share model. Only 5% of the content is licensed, he said.

When asked whether increased competition in the AVoD space has made securing library programming more challenging, Nalled said there have been no supply issues.

“In two years, we’ve been able to expand [the Tubi] library by 60%, and we’re dealing with all of the majors… Disney, MGM, Lionsgate, Sony… even Paramount we’re buying some product from. Again, we’re buying a deep library product, we’re not buying their first-run product, which is going to places like Hulu or their own D2C products.

“So no, we haven’t seen, nor do I expect to see, any issues on acquiring product from the content providers we’ve been able to buy from,” he said.

As to whether Tubi would consider introducing a tiered structure that would give access to exclusive content (such as NFL games) via a subscription, Nallen said that is not part of the plan.

“The ability to access it on a free basis is the secret sauce of Tubi, so we don’t have any expectation of tiering it or adding a subscription product,” he said.

While some of its rivals in the AVoD space are pursuing aggressive international expansion efforts, Tubi, which currently operates in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Canada, is not planning to follow suit.

“[International expansion is] not the priority,” Nallen said, adding that “the growth opportunity for us in the US is significant. That’s where we are concentrated.”