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Making fun of Tubi? Big mistake. Huge<\/a>. The streaming service platform that\u2019s produced films like Titanic 666<\/em> and Most Wanted Santa<\/em>, has at times been the butt of jokes regarding some low-budget original shows<\/a> and just the name, Tubi.\u00a0 But Tubi is laughing now.\u00a0<\/p>\n This past spring, the free and legal streaming service Tubi raked in a record number of viewers\u2014according to Nielsen data as first reported by the Los Angeles Times<\/em>.<\/a> Tubi\u2019s average audience spiked by 46% in one year, reaching 1 million in May. It rose above legacy streamers including Disney+, Peacock, Paramount, and Max, added the Times.\u00a0<\/p>\n The rise of Tubi can be attributed to the age-old value of a deal. And the best deal of all, of course, is costing nothing. \u201cTubi\u2019s momentum is the result of having a true flywheel in streaming: we\u2019re free (and committed to staying that way),\u201d Tubi CEO Anjali Sud said in a statement to Fortune<\/em>, adding that they have the \u201cworld\u2019s largest content library with a diverse set of stories and storytellers.\u201d Having joined Tubi only in 2023, Sud recognizes that this is baked into Tubi\u2019s style, a model that was \u201cinvested in consistently for over a decade.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is different to be 100% free. We\u2019re not asking you to subscribe to an ad tier or to a subscription tier,\u201d Sud said<\/a> this April on Ringers\u2019 podcast The Town<\/em> with Matthew Belloni<\/em> of the ad-supported streamers\u2019 success.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not trying to upsell you,\u201d she added, noting that it\u2019s \u201cas easy to start watching a movie on Tubi as it is to open up TikTok.\u201d The free nature of Tubi becomes all the more appealing when other platforms are hiking their prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n As every network rolls out their own one-word streaming service, the market begins to oversaturate and become pricey. In 2023, the Wall Street Journal<\/em><\/a> predicted that the cost of watching one of the main ad-free streaming platforms would go up by 25% in a year.<\/p>\n Indeed, prices inflated as Fortune<\/em>\u2019s<\/a> Rachyl Jones reported inNovember that half of the major U.S. streaming platforms charged a monthly fee that was twice the price they charged when they first entered the scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n Apple<\/a> increased prices, as did Peacock, and Max<\/a>. Netflix<\/a>, which doesn\u2019t disclose viewership, recently cracked down on account-sharing (to the chagrin of many adult children) and announced that they were set to increase prices<\/a> again this year. While it experienced record profits<\/a> during the first-quarter, Netflix announced it would stop showing subscribers after a period of slow growth before its password mandate.\u00a0<\/p>\n TV watchers are tired<\/a>, as in November 2023 the monthly churn for major streamers reached 6.3%, an increase from 5.1% the previous year\u2014per subscriptions analytics group Antenna. That\u2019s where Tubi strikes, when the iron is lukewarm.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing our value proposition resonate even more today with a highly engaged audience who are majority cord cutters and cord nevers, Sud tells Fortune<\/em>. She told Ringer<\/em> the group that doesn\u2019t pay for cable represents 60% of their audience. \u201cWe see our momentum as good validation of our strategy, and will continue to lean into our strengths and skate where the puck is going,\u201d she added. And Sud told Ringer that 40% of their audience is \u201cnot on other traditional streamers.\u201d<\/p>\n Another key part to Tubi is its CVS receipt length catalog<\/a> with over 240,000 movies and TV shows, according to its CEO. They\u2019re not looking for Oscars winners, as Sud posits that their younger audience \u201ccare[s] more about authenticity than critical acclaim.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n And Sud is focused on that core base which doesn\u2019t \u201cfeel as represented in the prestige content you see today.\u201d Indeed, Tubi tilts young, as Ringers<\/em>\u2019 Belloni points out that almost half of the audience is between 13 and 30. Around half of the platform\u2019s audience identifies as multicultural (which includes Black, Latino, Asian, and LGBTQ+ users), the Times noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n