The High-Stakes Path to Tubi’s Streaming Success

Formula 1 is gearing up to take over Las Vegas next weekend as it transformed the Sphere into a spinning F1 tire. I’ll be on the ground with Mastercard during the Las Vegas Grand Prix, and I’ll be sharing my experience right here in Tech Talk. Stay tuned.

A peek into today’s edition:

Tubi‘s marketing and content success
Tech Byte: the Nike Air Max 1000
Apple x The Weeknd‘s new experience

Tubi’s first original talk show, WE GOT TIME TODAY, premieres on Nov. 19 with Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders and co-host Rocsi Diaz. With this new weekly show, the ad-supported streaming service is gearing up to continue solidifying its position as a major player in the streaming wars, even though it feels like Tubi is operating in a lane of its own.

Tubi has made significant strides in recent years, driven by fresh marketing and content discovery approaches. I spoke to Tubi CMO Nicole Parlapiano and Chief Content Officer Adam Lewinson about the platform’s high-stakes potential in a crowded and competitive streaming space. Lewison has been with Tubi for seven years, while Parlapiano joined two years after serving as Tinder’s VP of marketing.

“The first two years, we were a scrappy startup, but now we’re part of Fox, and the growth has been tremendous,” Lewison said. “Early on, we believed the future of television was free and on-demand. This philosophy goes back to TV’s roots—most viewing has historically been free and ad-supported. Today, it’s still true; the only change is the delivery mechanism—streaming.”

Parlapiano comes from tech, but she accepted the job at Tubi after meeting one of the Tubi founders and hearing something that resonated with her.

“He described Tubi as understanding that the monoculture is dead. Tubi honors whatever people want to watch, and that can vary widely,” Parlapiano told Boardroom. “I like that Tubi respects what people like, without judging or forcing trends onto them. We all exist in subcultures of media consumption — some obvious, some not so much — and Tubi really respects that.”

Building Tubi’s Content Library

Tubi offers free access to the world’s largest collection of movies and TV shows, which includes over 250,000 episodes and films. Tubi takes a three-pronged approach when it comes to content discovery. The tech team leverages machine learning to surface relevant content, the curation team analyzes trends and recommends the best content for specific audiences, and the acquisitions team evaluates pitches, focusing on stories that resonate with viewers.

“Our machine learning-driven home grid is a fingerprint of the viewer, surfacing content they’re most likely to enjoy,” Lewison said. “This personalization ensures Tubi stays relevant and engaging.”

“Indie filmmakers are a big part of Tubi’s ecosystem, but it’s also expanding into originals with major studios — like The Curse of the Necklace with Warner Bros.,” Lewison told Boardroom.

Lewison said his budget was small when he first joined Tubi, making it difficult to invest in diverse content. However, that all began to change after the Fox acquisition in 2020. Today, Lewison said the streamer uses its massive library, targeted original content, and younger-skewing audience to differentiate itself.

“Part of our mission is helping stories find their audiences, telling culturally relevant stories, and engaging with fandoms,” Lewison said. “Back in the day, TV was a monoculture where everyone tuned in at the same time — like Thursdays at 8 p.m. for Friends. Now, everything is fragmented, with fandoms becoming increasingly niche. That’s one of Tubi’s strengths.”

While viewers like watching nostalgic content, Tubi has seen some successes on the original side as well. Lewison said the platform’s strategy is about engagement, not retention, since it’s not chasing subscribers. Franchises like The Stepmother and its sequels drive tens of millions of views. Another example is McGraw Avenue, a Detroit crime drama by indie filmmakers who couldn’t find a platform for their work elsewhere. Luckily, it’s found its loyal audience on Tubi.

“That raw, imperfect quality is what makes Tubi special. Some of our shows, like Hoochie Daddies, have that gritty, unpolished feel, and people love that authenticity,” Parlapiano said. “It feels real, like 90s reality TV, and that’s exactly what they’re craving.”

Embracing the Social Lore

When it comes to marketing, Tubi plays to its strengths by leaning into specific genres and verticals. The platform discovered its early audience had an appetite for horror and nostalgic shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Nip/Tuck. It also gained traction with aspiring Black filmmakers in Detroit and Atlanta, who face barriers in mainstream media. About 56% of viewers are Gen Z and Millennials, so whether they are rewatching content or discovering it for the first time, Tubi built a strategy dubbed “Nostalgia New” to continue bringing them back to the platform.

“At first, we hadn’t really done much marketing. We just focused on saying, ‘we’re free, we’re free,” and ‘largest content library,'” Parlapiano said. “We found through research that people really appreciated that Tubi understood them and built these content rabbit holes for them.”

Parlapiano wants Tubi’s marketing to be brand-first, with a deeper respect for its viewers. Before she joined the platform, she said Tubi was marketing its originals like everyone else in streaming. The campaigns for those were never successful because the originals weren’t mass-market shows and didn’t build a brand around Tubi.

So, Parlapiano changed that narrative. One of the first things she focused on was building a social team since Tubi didn’t have a dedicated team before her arrival.

“The approach was to transition Tubi into a brand that doesn’t try to control the narrative, but instead, responds and celebrates the people who love us, especially those on social media,” she said.

Parlapiano said there is so much social lore on Tubi, and since its content often goes viral, it was important for the brand to have an online presence.

“There was this real lore around Tubi, especially in the Black community. People would share their thoughts — good or bad, funny or ridiculous. They’d be like, ‘Oh, this is so Tubi!’ It was wild,” Parlapiani said. “I felt like the fact that we didn’t take ourselves so seriously was interesting.”

One of Tubi’s important marketing tactics is connecting with the creators who discuss its content online. One creator, Kesha Renea, went viral on TikTok as Tubi Bae. She would review Tubi movies while in a robe and a bonnet with a glass of wine. To thank her, Tubi sent her a custom robe and has kept in contact with her to make sure she knows her content is supported and appreciated, no matter how critical it is.

When Parlapianio is dreaming up new marketing plans, her team focuses on cutting through and ensuring people understand that the experience on ad-supported platforms like Tubi is different. But one thing she doesn’t touch is Tubi’s homepage. That’s all driven by AI.

“It’s not Netflix. You’re not going to see a beautifully curated, merchandised homepage with all of our originals,” she said. “Over time, though, we aim to get to know you better and tailor the experience to you.”

With Coach Prime’s new talk show coming out soon, Parlapiano said she’s staying nimble, and her team is focused on looking for the special moments of each episode. Tubi wants to show a different side of Coach Prime, especially with its social campaign.

Tubi’s Inclusive Vision

Earlier this year, Tubi launched Stubios, a fan-fueled studio for aspiring filmmakers that allows viewers to help shape stories. The program supports filmmakers with mentorship, production resources, and fan engagement to greenlight projects. Supported by Issa Rae and ColorCreative, Stubios highlights Tubi’s commitment to fostering diversity, originality, and cultural relevance in entertainment while providing advertisers unique opportunities to connect with younger, diverse audiences. We’ll be seeing more from Stubios projects in the future.

Tubi has a lot in store, and while it has big plans to grow, it does not plan to start a subscription model. It’ll continue as an ad-based video-on-demand platform for years to come.

“Tubi has given people a place where they can find content they love, without friction or a price point, and that sense of identity is beautiful,” Parlapiano said. “We’re here when they need us, and we listen.”

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