Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch again raved about streaming service Tubi, which is expected to have revenue of $350 million for this fiscal year.
“It is already exceeding all of our expectations and we continue to find innovative ways to expand its product offering and propel its growth,” Murdoch said on the company’s third quarter earnings call with analysts Wednesday.
The $350 million revenue estimate is up from the $300 million guidance the company issued last quarter.
And Murdoch reiterated his prediction that Tubi is on its way to becoming a billion-dollar business for Fox. (One analyst predicted Tubi revenue could reach $1.7 billion by 2025.)
Since being acquired by Fox last year, Tubi’s programming has been upgraded, adding Fox shows including The Masked Singer.
The streaming service will be a prominent part of Fox's upfront presentation.
Also Read: Marianne Gambelli on Tubi Joining Fox’s Ad-Supported Portfolio
This fall, Tubi will be adding about 150 hours of original content from Fox alternative entertainment and animated films produced by Fox’s Bento Box.
Tubi has also been adding news content from local Fox stations. Tubi recently closed deals with E.W. Scripps and Cox Media Group to add 20 more stations to the platform.
“And the good news is, given Tubi’s best in class tech stack, we will be able to measure the ROI on the original content investment as we go,” Murdoch noted.
Tubi will also benefit from Fox’s new deal with the NFL, which includes expanded streaming rights. Tubi will launch an NFL branded VOD channel this coming season, Murdoch said.
During the call, Murdoch laid out some statistics about Tubi’s performance.
In March, Tubi’s reach increased over 30% as measured by viewers and now reaches 40 million monthly active users.
In terms of engagement asTubi generated over 275 million hours of total view time streamed in March, a monthly record for the platform. TVT is important because “that is what we monetize,” Murdoch said.
Tubi also set a record for total view time in the third quarter with nearly 800 million hours streamed up more than 50% year-over-year. That was on top of the exponential growth the platform experienced in 2020, when Tubi streamed more than 2.5 billion hours of content.
The median age of the Tubi viewers is 37 years, 20 years younger than linear TV. Over two-thirds of its audience does not watch other ad supported streaming services.
“Tubi truly broadens the reach of linear television and allows our advertising partners to access a substantial incremental digital audience--. and an audience that is not readily consuming other AVOD services, Murdoch said.
Bottom line: Tubi’s quarterly revenue increased over 150% compared to the same period last year.
“The power of Fox’s promotional sales and content synergies are accelerating Tubi’s business, putting it on a path to be $1 billion revenue business in the coming years,” Murdoch said.
