Tubi, the free ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox, is now available in Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama — an expansion that has doubled its global footprint and signals the company’s interest in capturing more Latin American viewers.
Consumers in these five Latin American countries now have access to Tubi’s library and will be able to watch titles — with either subtitles or dubbed in Spanish — on a variety of devices such as desktops, iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs, LG TVs, Samsung TVs, Roku TVs, Amazon Fire TV Stick devices, VIDAA Smart OS on Hisense TVs, Google TVs and other Android TV OS devices, plus Microsoft Store on Windows. Ecuador is the only country where Roku is not supported.
In addition to free movies like “The Green Hornet,” “Hellboy,” “American Psycho” and others — viewers in the five countries can also stream regionally produced TV series such as “Bienvenida Realidad,” “Atrapada” and “El Sexo Debil,” plus local versions of “The Nanny,” “Bewitched” and “Married with Children.” Tubi will also offer TV series “L.A.’s Finest” and “Masters of Sex.”
Tubi has been slower to expand to other countries than its competitors. Disney+ has launched in more than 80 countries and is aiming for a total of 160 countries by 2023. Netflix is streaming in 190 countries. Tubi is available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia, as well as the aforementioned additional five Latin American countries.
Tubi’s expansion in Latin America puts it in a better position in the race for world expansion as Latin America is a growing market and a big focus for streaming services. LABS (Latin America Business Stories) predicted that Latin America’s streaming subscriptions will more than double in the next three years, reaching 110 million viewers in 2025. The company told TechCrunch that further expansion in Latin America is not yet determined.
“We’re delighted to launch our platform in these five Latin American countries, bringing viewers a mix of locally-produced content, Spanish-language favorites, and Hollywood titles,” Adam Lewinson, Tubi’s chief content officer, said in a statement. “We’re eager to expand deeper into Latin America after the stellar success of Tubi in Mexico, which has seen tremendous growth in such a short amount of time.”
Tubi launched in Mexico in 2021, bringing viewers a localized Spanish-language app in partnership with TV Azteca, a media company in Mexico with four television networks. Tubi boasted in Thursday’s announcement that the streaming service saw total viewing time in Mexico rise 60% year-over-year and total viewers increase 40% year-over-year.
Fox reported in its fourth-quarter earnings yesterday that Tubi saw an increase in monthly active users (MAUs) of nearly 40%. In the quarter prior, the streamer announced a total of 51 million active users. Last year, Tubi had 33 million.
CEO Lachlan Murdoch remarked in Wednesday’s earnings call, “We will continue to invest judiciously in Tubi with our sights set on achieving $1 billion in revenue run rate in the next couple of years.”
Fox acquired Tubi in 2020 for $440 million and will continue to invest in the platform. In the past year, the service saw a 45% growth in revenue.
