Tubi, the popular ad-supported streaming services, announced on Wednesday a 180 percent jump in ad revenue last year and a 400 percent increase in the amount of content watched on the platform.
The privately held company declined to release revenue figures or precise viewership numbers.
“In 2018 we at Tubi saw tremendous growth as consumers, fatigued by SVOD subscriptions and services, sought alternative entertainment choices,” CEO Farhad Massoudi said in a press release.
Massoudi credited Tubi’s growing content library, which increased from 9,000 to 12,000 titles in 2018, and its recommendation engine, for the platform’s growth. Following the engine’s launch in December 2017, the company said watch time on the platform increased by 20 percent.
“We will continue to use profits to make bigger bets on content, enhance viewing experience, and continue to press ahead into new grounds in what is our core advantage: technology and data,” Massoudi added.
Part of that bet is on exclusive content. In 2019, Massoudi plans to increase the number of exclusive titles available on the platform, which currently stands at 11.
In addition to an increase in content, Tubi announced a new partnership with Horizon Media, a company that works in data and marketing insights.
Under the agreement, Horizon will be able to provide their clients with access to Tubi’s OTT ad inventory. The company also secured an agreement with Rogers Media, a Canadian media company, to be the exclusive sales representative for its advertising in the Canadian market.
The news of Tubi’s growth comes as a time when more consumers are turning to ad-supported video products in favor of increasing their monthly streaming costs.
The growing demand for free content has caught the attention of several companies including Roku, Amazon, and Walmart — all of which have invested heavily in AVOD over the past several years. Roku and Amazon both launched their own AVOD services, while Walmart’s streaming service Vudu partnered with MGM to produce original content for the OTT platform.