Tubi Free-Streaming Service Checks in to 30,000 Hotel Rooms
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Tubi is taking its ad-supported VOD on the road.
The free streaming service is launching directly on TVs in over 30,000 hotel rooms across the U.S., through a deal with Enseo, an in-room entertainment platform provider. Starting Tuesday, guests at participating hotels can watch Tubi’s lineup of over 20,000 movies and TV shows from over 250 content partners, including nearly every major Hollywood studio (with Disney a notable exception).
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The deal brings Tubi to guest rooms in over 20 hotel and resort brands, including Hyatt, Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn, Accor Hotels, Choice Hotels, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, IHG, Millennium Hotels and Resorts, Renaissance Hotels, Omni Hotels & Resorts, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and Wyndham. The companies said the streaming service will be coming to additional hotels in the future.
“Our collaboration with Enseo comes at a time where we remain focused on providing easy access to premium content for everyone,” said Andrea Clarke-Hall, Tubi’s VP of business development.
The Tubi move into hotels expands its current distribution footprint, which includes Android and iOS mobile devices, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, Comcast Xfinity X1, Cox Contour, Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and the web.
Meanwhile, Fox Corporation is exploring an acquisition of Tubi, in a deal worth over $500 million, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. Both companies declined to comment on the report.
In December 2019, according to Tubi, its monthly active user base grew to 25 million (up from 20 million six months earlier) and total viewing time rose 160% to over 163 million hours watched.
Tubi content partners include Warner Bros., Paramount, Lionsgate and NBCUniversal. In 2020, Tubi said its content spending will “exceed nine figures,” or more than $100 million, to expand on its current library. Last year Tubi pegged content spending at about $100 million.
San Francisco-based Tubi was founded as AdRise, a video ad-tech startup in 2010. It launched Tubi TV in 2014 and eventually changed its name and focus to ad-supported VOD. The company has raised $34 million from investors including Lionsgate, MGM, Jump Capital, Cota Capital, Foundation Capital and Streamlined Ventures.
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