Tubi doesn’t just see itself surviving the streaming wars, it sees itself winning.
Mark Rotblat, chief revenue officer of the free, ad-supported movie and TV streaming platform, told BeetTV during Advertising Week that the streaming wars help Tubi “greatly.” As more platforms launch, like Apple’s streaming network and NBC’s Peacock, more people will cut the cord, argues Rotblat.
“There’s been a decline in linear TV subscribers. The tipping point has happened,” says Rotblat, adding that most cord-cutters pay for between one and three subscriptions. Tubi, as it’s free, becomes a complementary add-on. Most Tubi subscribers subscribe to Netflix, according to Rotblat. “They use us when they say ‘I want more, but I don’t want to pay any more.’ Others like Peacock and Apple just adds to the incentives for people to cut the cord. Then they find us.”
That helps to shape Tubi’s pitch to advertisers, which are critical to the platform’s ad-supported model. According to Rotblat, Tubi has 20 million monthly uniques, over 15,000 titles and is now on more than 20 distribution platforms. During Advertising Week, the company announced it would be available on Vizio TV sets.
The age of cord-cutters
Tubi appeals to buyers who are seeking to maintain a relationship with cord-cutters. In the second quarter of 2019, Comcast, AT&T and Charter reported losing a combined 1.25 million subscribers, an increase of 1.1 million over the same quarter the year prior.
“It’s the same buyers buying television looking to get reach to target audiences, which are declining as linear TV subscriptions just fall off the cliff,” says Rotblat. “Things are changing very rapidly – where are they going to reach that audient? They can reach them on OTT.”
Rotblat says Tubi’s strength is that “it looks like TV,” thanks to its movie and television library and advertisements, without being tethered to a cable package. As cord-cutting continues, that’s an advantage.
This video is part of a series of interviews conducted during Advertising Week New York, 2019. This series is co-production of Beet.TV and Advertising Week. The series is sponsored by Roundel, a Target company. Please see more videos from Advertising Week right here.