TUBI UNVEILS INSIGHTS ON HOW MARKETERS CAN NAVIGATE THE SHIFTING ENTERTAINMENT LANDSCAPE IN THE STREAM 2025
New Data from Tubi and The Harris Poll Finds Streaming Beats Social as the Best Form of Escapism, Nostalgic Content is Making a Comeback, and Viewers Don’t Want Ads on Paid Subscription Services
SAN FRANCISCO, March 18, 2025 – Tubi (www.tubitv.com), Fox Corporation’s (NASDAQ: FOXA, FOX) ad-supported streaming service, today released findings from The Stream 2025: Audience Insights Shaping Streaming. In this year’s report Tubi, who partnered with The Harris Poll to conduct research, provides a deep dive into the changing streaming behaviors of consumers, especially Gen Z, and how marketers can reach these audiences amid the shifting entertainment landscape.
“Tubi has built a deeply engaged audience by providing a trusted, premium streaming experience where viewers can freely discover content that speaks to them—without barriers or subscription fees,” said Cynthia Clevenger, Senior Vice President of B2B Marketing at Tubi. “Today’s viewers are more selective than ever, carefully choosing where to invest their time and attention. As consumer behaviors continue to evolve, these insights offer marketers a valuable opportunity to connect with key audiences—like Gen Z—in an environment where they find real value through diverse content, seamless ad integration, and a viewing experience that mirrors paid services without the cost.”
Highlights from the report are below:
- Viewers are willing to accept ads, but not if they’re paying for it: 79% of consumers feel that if they’re paying for a streaming service, they expect no ads at all, while 81% say that watching ads is a fair trade-off for access to free content on streaming.
- Viewers are turning to streaming as a form of escapism: 80% of viewers say they’d rather spend their time watching a TV show / movie than scrolling on social media. In fact, consumers are most likely to reach for streaming when they need a mental break (59%), followed by listening to music (50%) or scrolling social media (38%).
- Americans are quick to ditch their streaming services over price hikes: Viewers are spending $129 combined in a month on streaming services and paid TV subscriptions (a 7.5% increase YoY) and over half of respondents (56%) monitor streaming services carefully so as to not overspend. Gen Z viewers are particularly cost-conscious: 76% say they have or would end their streaming subscription over increased price.
- Viewers increasingly favor indies over remakes: 70% of streamers want to see more TV shows / movies on streaming that are independent or from smaller creators (a 4% increase year-over-year), with 73% of Gen Z saying they prefer to watch original content over franchises / remakes. 72% of Gen Z streamers also wish they had more of a say in the type of content that gets made for streaming services.
- Young workers are streaming on the clock (and lying about it): Half of Gen Z admitted to streaming while working from home – and nearly 48% admit to lying to their bosses about it.
- Singles won’t share their streaming passwords until they DTR (define the relationship): 70% of singles won’t share their streaming login with a romantic partner until the relationship becomes serious and 44% of Gen Z have admitted to using an ex’s streaming login even after they broke up. Taste matters too: 35% of Gen Z and Millennials have ended relationships over incompatible viewing habits.
- Out with the new, in with the old: Viewers are in their new-stalgia era: 66% say they are enjoying discovering content that was originally released 10+ years ago, while 87% of Gen Z agree that streaming services should show them older content they’ve never seen before in addition to new shows / movies.
- Ads can spark action among Gen Z, but only if they’re relevant: 81% of Gen Z agree that they’d consider taking action after seeing interesting ads while streaming, yet 73% feel that the ads they’re currently seeing on streaming seem misaligned with their personal preferences.
- Americans are avid streamers: 57% of viewers stream TV and movies for 1-3 hours in one sitting, and 38% say they stream for 3 hours or more. On average, viewers are juggling nearly 7 streaming services, with a mix of paid streaming services (3.9 on average) and free services (2.6 on average).
Tubi, which recently surpassed 97 million monthly active users and streamed over 10 billion hours during the 2024 calendar year, offers the world’s largest collection of movies and TV episodes, including over 300 exclusive originals, engaging fandoms with a fun and easy viewing experience across connected televisions, mobile devices, the web and more. More than 95% of viewing on Tubi is on-demand movies and TV shows. Over thirty-four percent of Tubi viewers are between the ages of 18-34, over half are Gen Z or Millennials and nearly half are multicultural, while 65% are cord-cutters or cord-nevers, according to the November MRI Cord Evolution Study. Last month, in partnership with FOX Sports, Tubi delivered the most-streamed Super Bowl in history as part of FOX Sport’s game day takeover, reaching 15.5 million peak concurrent streaming viewers and a 13.6 million average minute audience. Tubi is doubling down on content for fandoms and younger audiences. Its recent Super Bowl campaign, “If It’s In You, It’s In Here,” used the unforgettable visual of a fleshy cowboy hat to drive home the message that whatever viewers love, they’ll find it on Tubi, while its latest original series, THE Z-SUITE, starring Lauren Graham (“Gilmore Girls”), dives into the comedic chaos that erupts when Gen Z employees and the C-suite clash at a boutique ad agency.
For more information and to download The Stream 2025: Audience Insights Shaping Streaming, please visit here.
About the Data: The survey referenced was conducted within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Tubi from October 21, 2024, to November 1, 2024, among 2,502 18+ adults that stream video at least 1 hour a week.
About Tubi
Tubi is a global entertainment company dedicated to providing all people access to all the world’s stories. Tubi offers the largest collection of premium on-demand content, including over 275,000 movies and TV episodes and more than 300 exclusive originals. With a passionate fanbase and over 97 million monthly active users, the company is committed to putting viewers first with free, accessible entertainment. Tubi is part of Tubi Media Group, a division of Fox Corporation that oversees the company’s digital businesses.
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