Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation is making a bold entry into the UK’s competitive free, ad-supported video streaming market with the launch of Tubi.
This move positions Tubi against established platforms like Netflix, Disney+, ITVX, Channel 4’s streaming service, and BBC iPlayer.
Tubi has rapidly gained traction in the US, where Fox reports it boasts nearly 80 million monthly active users.
Tubi plans to offer over 20,000 films and TV series in the UK.
It will feature content from major studios like Disney, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
The platform will also provide various British, Indian, and Nigerian content.
UK viewers can access Tubi’s offerings through its webpage and a smartphone app.
Tubi’s CEO Anjali Sud said: “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.”
Fox Corporation acquired Tubi in 2020 for $440 million (£348 million) to attract younger audiences.
In recent years, streaming giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ have introduced ad-supported services and increased subscription prices to boost revenues.
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These strategies come as they face mounting pressure to expand their content libraries.
The companies are all striving to attract more customers in a fiercely competitive market.
“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”
In March, Murdoch’s TalkTV network announced it would cease terrestrial television broadcasting to become an exclusively online service.
Launched in 2022, TalkTV struggled to draw viewers on its linear platform.
Murdoch had envisioned the network as a disruptive, opinion-led alternative to traditional outlets.
This echoed his transformative impact on the UK’s broadcasting industry with the launch of Sky in 1984.
Some commentators viewed TalkTV as Murdoch’s attempt to replicate his Sky success.
However, in 2018, 21st Century Fox sold its 39 percent stake in Sky to NBCUniversal’s owner, Comcast, after losing a bidding war for the network.
