Fox Corporation has launched a regional variant of its stateside, ad-supported streaming service Tubi in the United Kingdom, making more than 20,000 movies and TV episodes available to watch without a subscription, the company said on Monday.
The launch of Tubi in the U.K. is the first time the streaming service has been made available anywhere in Europe since it was acquired by Fox Corporation for $440 million four years ago. It is part of an international expansion effort at Fox that has brought Tubi to other countries over the past few years, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several territories in Latin America.
“Tubi has spent the last decade honing our approach to vast, free and fun streaming in North America, and we feel that now is the perfect time to bring that recipe to UK audiences,” Anjali Sud, the CEO of Tubi, said in a statement. ” We are launching with one of the largest and most diverse content libraries in the U.K., designed to indulge viewers in everything from blockbusters to original stories to hidden gems. Most importantly, we’re committed to listening to what resonates with UK fans, and bringing them more and more of what they love.”
Some of the brands that have licensed content to Tubi for its U.K. platform include the Walt Disney Company, Comcast’s NBC Universal, Lionsgate and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Tubi is also bringing its slate of Tubi Originals to streamers there.
“At a time when traditional programming feels homogenous and when finding what to watch feels like a chore, Tubi has been effective at delivering delight beyond the monoculture with content that appeals to diverse and vibrant fandoms,” David Salmon, the Executive Vice President and Managing Director at Tubi, said on Monday. Salmon was hired by Fox and Tubi last year in anticipation of the service’s debut in the U.K.
Salmon continued: “We believe that we can build a brilliantly broad, culturally ambitious offering that puts U.K. audiences back at the center, and makes it fun and easy to enjoy great entertainment from around the world.”
Fox didn’t say which platforms will support Tubi at launch, but it is expected to be available across all major connected TV devices, including those powered by Android TV (Google TV) and Amazon’s Fire TV. The app is likely to launch in the coming months on set-top boxes associated with pay TV services as well.
The launch of Tubi in the U.K. continues a trend of stateside streaming services expanding their presence internationally in order to capture more market share and ad dollars as the connected TV market matures overseas. Likewise, services that have their origin stories in Europe, Asia and Latin America have started bringing their products to the U.S. in order to chase revenue in a streaming market that is considered among the most-mature in the world.
