Why you can trust our reporting
Our coverage of the free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) sector dates back to the original launch of Pluto TV and subsequent acquisition by Viacom — suffice to say, we’ve been on top of the FAST market before it even had a name. For this story, we examined the data provided by Parks Associates and compared it to our prior reporting on several apps, including Tubi, Pluto TV and The Roku Channel. We also noted trends developing across FAST apps and the CTV ecosystem in general, and compared financial data from earnings reports released by Fox Corporation (Tubi), Roku and Paramount (Pluto TV), though not all of that data made it into the final story. Disclosure: The Desk is an editorial partner of the Future of Video conference, which is produced by Parks Associates, the author of the report that serves as the cornerstone of this story.
Fox Corporation’s free streaming service Tubi is the most-used free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service in broadband-connected homes across the United States, according to new data released by Parks Associates this week.
The data originates from Parks Associates’ proprietary Streaming Video Tracker, which offers quarterly subscriber estimates, viewership data and monthly market updates on dozens of streaming platforms available in North America.
The report released this week shows Tubi is used by around 80 million viewers on a monthly basis, a testament to the reach of the free streaming service, which Fox has prioritized by strategically incorporating premium content into a platform that offers little friction to access.
The Roku Channel ranks as the second most-used FAST service in U.S. broadband homes with around 60 million monthly viewers, followed by Paramount-owned Pluto TV with nearly 50 million monthly viewers.
“FAST services are no longer a secondary viewing option: They are a central part of the streaming landscape,” Michael Goodman, the Director of Entertainment Research at Parks Associates, said in a statement. “The gap between leaders like Tubi and the rest of the market underscores the importance of content breadth, distribution partnerships, and user experience in driving viewer engagement.”
While Tubi is the most-used FAST service overall, the prominence of The Roku Channel is notable: The app is available on all Roku smart TVs and streaming devices by default, and Roku makes its free streaming content available through Roku Channel apps for other devices like Samsung’s Tizen OS, Android TV (Google TV) and Amazon’s Fire TV as well.
But Roku devices tend to be the most-used in American homes, competing for market share with Fire TV — together, the two platforms control around 80 percent of the CTV platform market by use, each having a near-equitable share — which means The Roku Channel’s advertising and subscription business stands to benefit from that exposure.
By contrast, Tubi is an opt-in experience — the app is widely available on connected TV platforms, but most users have to seek out the app and install it before they can stream movies and shows from the service. (Vizio and Xumo devices make all supported apps, including Tubi, available by default.) That users have to seek out Tubi before they can use it makes the placement of the service on Parks Associates’ list more remarkable.
Tubi helped Fox Corporation earn nearly $2.2 billion in total ad revenue during the company’s most-recent fiscal quarter — a figure that is commingled with ad sales from the Fox broadcast network, though executives have said in the past that Tubi pulls in more ad revenue than Fox.
Pluto TV likely benefits from longevity and name-recognition: The app was one of the first to offer free streaming content delivered through linear channels that resemble broadcast and cable networks, though executives at Paramount are pushing more streamers to the platform’s video on-demand catalog, feeling it offers a better experience — and better monetization opportunities — compared to its linear channels.
One thing that all FAST services have in common: They seem to benefit from rising prices across premium, subscription-based apps like Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video and Disney Plus, Parks Associates noted in its report.
As prices increase across those services — the three named apps tend to adjust the cost of their apps on an annual basis — streamers are incorporating more free platforms like Tubi and The Roku Channel into their entertainment and media diets, and are willing to stream content with ads if it means they don’t have to pay anything extra to view their shows and movies.
Goodman and Parks Associates will present more data from the Streaming Video Tracker at the TV of Tomorrow Show (TVOT) in Montreal on May 21st, and additional reports are expected at Parks Associates’ own Future of Video conference in mid-November. The Desk is an editorial partner of both events.
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