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Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Would Tubi be worth paying for?

Last week, Fox-owned Tubi refuted a fake story that it was preparing to charge a subscription fee for its heretofore ad-supported but free streaming video on demand service. I believe them; there are no plans to make Tubi yet another paid streamer. But what if there were? Would it be worth a fee?

Well, don't tell them, but...yeah! Right now Tubi is one of the few streamers that still adds new catalog content on a monthly basis. Furthermore, it licenses material from a variety of sources like Universal, Sony, and Warners (though oddly not so much the Fox library that Disney now owns, but maybe that will change soon). I enjoy the overall interface, and the selection of old TV shows is great. There is also a cool library of movies, many of which you will never see on Netflix nor HBO Max.

I'd pay a few bucks a month (Again, don't tell them that!) for a service that kept those good aspects and made some changes.

*Get rid of the ads: Commercial creep has infected the streamers, and we are now at a point where it's becoming commonplace to charge money for ad-ful streaming. It would be a big blow if Tubi charged money and kept the commercials.

*Be more transparent: Two library shows I had on my list for a while left on July 1, and I didn't find out they were leaving until I got an email a couple days beforehand. Give at least 30 days' notice for everything leaving the service.

*More, more, more: Continue to license material from all corners of TV and movie history, and don't be satisfied with a couple big deals. Diversify!

*Don't push the library shows aside when you're pushing the originals: I think we all fear what would happen in this scenario: Tubi would produce more and more originals to "get buzz," and the amount of library material would slowly decrease because "it doesn't draw as many new eyeballs as the originals do."

Fortunately, this is all a moot point right now, but I would pay a few bucks for Tubi if they did do all this. You know what, though? It can do all of that right now (Well, getting rid of the ads may be unrealistic). Just please don't tell them I would pay a few bucks a month.


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