Tubi Viewers Question Fox Corp. Ownership
Social media discussions have highlighted consumer concern over Fox Corporation's ownership of the ad-supported streaming service Tubi. One user stated, "we are subsidizing propaganda simply by watching Tubi," reflecting a perception that ad revenue from the platform indirectly supports Fox News. Fox Corp. acquired Tubi in 2020 for approximately $440 million, a fact users have been consistently sharing.
- To finance the acquisition, Fox Corp. sold its 5% minority stake in Roku, essentially swapping a passive investment for full ownership and operational control of Tubi. This strategic move allowed Fox to fund the purchase without impacting its balance sheet capacity. - The acquisition was a strategic move to broaden Fox's direct-to-consumer offerings, specifically targeting a younger, "cord-cutting" demographic that is increasingly moving away from traditional cable subscriptions. Tubi's user base at the time was over 25 million monthly active viewers who spent more than 160 million hours per month on the service. - Fox's strategy for Tubi has been to expand its content library with licensed movies and series rather than investing heavily in expensive original programming, a key differentiator from competitors like Netflix and Disney+. This approach includes leveraging Fox's existing expertise in news and sports programming to enhance Tubi's offering in a cost-effective way. - Since the acquisition, Tubi has seen significant growth, with analysts estimating its annual revenue has surged from under $150 million in 2020 to over $1 billion. The platform reached profitability for the first time in the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2025, with a 27% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year. - In April 2023, Fox Corporation formed the Tubi Media Group, a new division to house its standalone digital businesses, including Tubi. This restructuring aims to spearhead the company's digital expansion and better integrate its digital advertising capabilities across all of Fox's video inventory. - The ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) market is experiencing rapid growth, with a global market size estimated at $40.8 billion in 2023 and projected to more than double by 2032. Tubi and YouTube are major players, collectively holding a significant market share of over 75% in the AVOD industry. - Tubi's appeal to advertisers lies in its ability to reach a large, diverse audience, with 46% of its viewers identifying as Black, and a significant portion who are not subscribed to other streaming services. Fox has highlighted that 33% of Tubi's streamers are unreachable on other top AVOD platforms. - Fox plans to continue operating Tubi as an independent service, with its founder and CEO at the time of acquisition, Farhad Massoudi, initially staying on to lead the platform. The focus remains on leveraging Fox's distribution and advertising relationships to accelerate Tubi's growth within the expanding ad-supported streaming market.
