If you’re fed up with the rising cost of streaming services – or simply the number of them you have to subscribe to in order to watch your favourite shows and films – then you might be pleased to know a new free streaming platform has just launched in the UK to challenge Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer and ITVX.
Tubi is launching today, 2 July, as a free ad-supported streaming app on smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Roku, iOS, Android devices and on the web with a library of more than 20,000 films and TV episodes including content from Disney, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Tubi is also investing in Tubi Originals with first full series The Z Suite coming soon starring Gilmore Girls’s Lauren Graham.
“Tubi has spent the last decade honing our approach to vast, free and fun streaming in North America, and we feel that now is the perfect time to bring that recipe to UK audiences,” said Anjali Sud, CEO of Tubi. “We are launching with one of the largest and most diverse content libraries in the UK, designed to indulge viewers in everything from blockbusters to original stories to hidden gems. Most importantly, we’re committed to listening to what resonates with UK fans, and bringing them more and more of what they love.”
The LA Times reported last month that Tubi averaged an audience of one million viewers in May 2024, up 46 percent from last year, beating Disney+, which clocked up 969,000 viewers. Stats like that show the demand for free content in the age of monthly subscription costs for apps such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
Founded in 2014, Tubi is now owned by US media giant Fox. Although it’s free, your shows and movies will be regularly interrupted with ads that you can’t skip, as that’s how Tubi makes it money – through advertising. Despite this, the company says it is confident its service will strike a chord with UK telly fans.
Rivals such as ITVX use the same model, offering content for free with ads, while paid apps such as Netflix and Disney+ offer their ad-supported packages at a cheaper monthly price than those without ads.
“At a time when traditional programming feels homogenous and when finding what to watch feels like a chore, Tubi has been effective at delivering delight beyond the monoculture with content that appeals to diverse and vibrant fandoms,” said David Salmon, EVP and Managing Director of International at Tubi. “We believe that we can build a brilliantly broad, culturally ambitious offering that puts UK audiences back at the centre, and makes it fun and easy to enjoy great entertainment from around the world.”
You can check out Tubi today, which launches on these shores with series such as Mythbusters plus hit films Moonrise Kingdon, Twilight, Olympus Has Fallen, and Billy Elliot, with more titles to be added each month.
