Fox FAST service Tubi steals share from Paramount and Amazon rivals
The UK launch of free Fox-owned streaming service Tubi in the summer has already made a dent in rival free advertising-supported TV (FAST) offerings from Paramount and Amazon.
Kantar’s latest Entertainment on Demand report has revealed that Pluto TV (Paramount) and Freevee (Amazon’s service formerly known as IMDb TV) have seen a reduction in active viewers since Tubi’s launch in July.
Nearly half (48%) of Tubi’s nascent viewership also use Pluto TV, while over a third (35%) use Freevee. Kantar described the UK market as “an intense battle for screen time”.
“Although Tubi remains a small player at this stage, any significant growth is likely to directly impact its most immediate competitors,” Kantar said.
However, this “battle” appears to be confined to a limited UK audience for FAST. Kantar reported Tubi’s launch as having “no noticeable impact” on leading subscription VOD services Netflix and Disney+.
Dominic Sunnebo, global insights director at Kantar’s Worldpanel division, said: “The launch of Tubi demonstrates the strength of paid video subscription services in the UK, having little impact on their subscription numbers. The big SVOD/AVOD streaming services are competing on production quality, with leading shows keeping viewer engagement strong.
“However, Disney+ proves that the power of promotion can still make waves in the highly competitive UK streaming market. Industry accolades have further boosted the profile of its shows and subscription deals with British household brands are drawing new subscribers to the streaming service at a time when the market is beginning to show signs of new growth.”
Kantar’s Entertainment on Demand in the UK uncovered other behaviours within the VOD market between July and September.
It found that Disney+ achieved the highest number of new subscribers for the second consecutive quarter, with a 21% share of all new SVOD subscriptions, followed by erstwhile leader Apple TV+.
Kantar’s report noted that Disney+ also enjoyed “significant success” with promotional activity focused on its £1.99 offer for three months. Partnerships with Lloyds Bank and Tesco also provided broader exposure to prospective users, while the service also benefited from an Emmy awards haul for The Bear and Shogun in September.
While Netflix was able to increase satisfaction among its existing user base, having launched new series of Emily in Paris, Bridgerton and The Umbrella Academy in recent months, that wasn’t enough to move the dial on overall subscriber growth, which was essentially flat compared with the previous quarter.
Kantar noted that churn at Netflix is, however, close to an “all-time low”, and with almost 60% of new subscribers choosing its ad tier.
Meanwhile, The Boys on Amazon Prime Video and House of the Dragon on Now (Sky) were the most enjoyed shows during Q3. One in three new Now subscribers joined to watch House of the Dragon. The show was created by Warner Bros Discovery’s HBO, which exclusively licenses its shows to Sky in the UK.
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