When Fox Corporation (NASDAQ: FOXA) acquired Tubi in 2020, few industry observers predicted that a little-known free platform would one day compete with the likes of Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO Max and NBCUniversal’s Peacock. Yet in 2025, Tubi became one of the first ad-supported streaming services to reach profitability, building a model that looks increasingly like the future of digital television.
Tubi’s success rests on something refreshingly simple: offering entertainment that doesn’t cost viewers anything. The platform has grown to 100 million monthly active users, largely by serving younger audiences who are less committed to traditional cable or even paid subscriptions. Many of these users came of age scrolling through short-form content, so free long-form streaming feels like a natural next step rather than a compromise. For Fox, the wager has paid off, especially as viewers look for ways to trim their entertainment budgets.
While other streaming platforms invest heavily in original programming, Tubi’s library strategy differs. The company curates thousands of movies and TV shows from studios and independents, mixing nostalgia-driven classics with a steady flow of new licensed titles. This approach keeps content costs manageable while maintaining constant variety, and it offers a level of unpredictability that keeps viewers coming back. Analysts argue that Tubi has found a balance between quantity and personalization, giving it an edge among viewers who want background entertainment with minimal effort.
The path to profitability also comes from how Tubi monetizes attention. Its advertising system uses machine learning to match commercial inventory with audience segments, creating a more efficient experience for marketers and viewers alike. Ads appear at predictable intervals, often shorter than traditional TV breaks, and are dynamically adjusted based on engagement data. This has made Tubi attractive to advertisers that want measurable performance rather than broad, expensive placement. According to industry reports, ad revenue for free streaming platforms in the U.S. is expected to surpass $18 billion in 2025, with Tubi taking an increasing share.
Marketing plays a subtler role in this growth story. Instead of massive celebrity-driven campaigns, Tubi’s outreach emphasizes everyday appeal. Fox has used major events such as the Super Bowl and the FIFA World Cup to raise awareness, often with humor that underlines the word “free.” Social media interaction, meme culture, and community engagement with millennial and Gen Z viewers have kept the message relevant without overspending. Analysts estimate Tubi’s marketing costs as a fraction of what subscription-based rivals spend per user, yet retention rates have remained relatively strong.
Behind the scenes, technology has been a silent partner in this success. Tubi’s recommendation algorithm, refined since its early days, draws from real-time analytics to predict what viewers will watch next. This keeps audiences within the platform longer and ensures advertisers benefit from a stable viewing environment. The company’s emphasis on usability, smooth playback, simple menu design, and consistent availability across devices, has also strengthened user trust. These elements have turned what might have been just another “free app” into a daily viewing habit.
Tubi’s rise also reflects shifting economics in the streaming industry. Subscription fatigue, rising prices, and content overload have gradually rebalanced audience preferences toward ad-supported models. Free streaming isn’t new, but Tubi has modernized it with data-driven precision and an understanding of what casual viewers want: convenience without commitment. Traditional networks like NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery are expanding their own free services, but catching up to an entrenched user base of 100 million active viewers will take time.
There are still challenges ahead. Competing platforms such as Amazon’s Freevee and Roku’s The Roku Channel continue to expand, and maintaining profitability depends on ad market conditions that can fluctuate. However, Tubi has demonstrated that free streaming can be more than a side project, it can become a sustainable part of a major media portfolio. For Fox Corporation, this milestone proves that a well-managed ad-supported business can generate consistent revenue even as the wider streaming sector struggles with subscriber churn and rising production costs.
Tubi’s story suggests that the future of streaming may not lie entirely behind paywalls. By aligning innovation, audience insight, and accessible entertainment, the company has turned free viewing from a curiosity into a thriving business model. Viewers may not pay to watch Tubi, but millions of them are helping it turn a profit every month, one ad at a time.
