Tubi, Fox Corporation’s ad-supported streaming service, has released findings from The Stream 2025: Audience Insights Shaping Streaming. In this year’s report Tubi, who partnered with The Harris Poll to conduct research, provides a dive into the changing streaming behaviours of US consumers, especially Gen Z, and how marketers can reach these audiences amid the shifting entertainment landscape.

“Tubi has built a deeply engaged audience by providing a trusted, premium streaming experience where viewers can freely discover content that speaks to them – without barriers or subscription fees,” said Cynthia Clevenger, Senior Vice President of B2B Marketing at Tubi. “Today’s viewers are more selective than ever, carefully choosing where to invest their time and attention. As consumer behaviours continue to evolve, these insights offer marketers a valuable opportunity to connect with key audiences – like Gen Z – in an environment where they find real value through diverse content, seamless ad integration, and a viewing experience that mirrors paid services without the cost.”

Highlights from the report include:

● Viewers are willing to accept ads, but not if they’re paying for it: 79 per cent of consumers feel that if they’re paying for a streaming service, they expect no ads at all, while 81 per cent say that watching ads is a fair trade-off for access to free content on streaming.

● Viewers are turning to streaming as a form of escapism: 80 per cent of viewers say they’d rather spend their time watching a TV show / movie than scrolling on social media. In fact, consumers are most likely to reach for streaming when they need a mental break (59 per cent), followed by listening to music (50 per cent) or scrolling social media (38 per cent).

● Americans are quick to ditch their streaming services over price hikes: Viewers are spending $129 combined in a month on streaming services and paid TV subscriptions (a 7.5 per cent increase YoY) and over half of respondents (56 per cent) monitor streaming services carefully so as to not overspend. Gen Z viewers are particularly cost-conscious: 76 per cent say they have or would end their streaming subscription over increased price.

● Viewers increasingly favour indies over remakes: 70 per cent of streamers want to see more TV shows / movies on streaming that are independent or from smaller creators (a 4 per cent increase year-over-year), with 73 per cent of Gen Z saying they prefer to watch original content over franchises / remakes. 72 per cent of Gen Z streamers also wish they had more of a say in the type of content that gets made for streaming services.

● Young workers are streaming on the clock (and lying about it): Half of Gen Z admitted to streaming while working from home – and nearly 48 per cent admit to lying to their bosses about it.

● Singles won’t share their streaming passwords until they DTR (define the relationship): 70 per cent of singles won’t share their streaming login with a romantic partner until the relationship becomes serious and 44 per cent of Gen Z have admitted to using an ex’s streaming login even after they broke up. Taste matters too: 35 per cent of Gen Z and Millennials have ended relationships over incompatible viewing habits.

● Out with the new, in with the old: Viewers are in their new-stalgia era: 66 per cent say they are enjoying discovering content that was originally released 10+ years ago, while 87 per cent of Gen Z agree that streaming services should show them older content they’ve never seen before in addition to new shows / movies.

● Ads can spark action among Gen Z, but only if they’re relevant: 81 per cent of Gen Z agree that they’d consider taking action after seeing interesting ads while streaming, yet 73 per cent feel that the ads they’re currently seeing on streaming seem misaligned with their personal preferences.

● Americans are avid streamers: 57 per cent of viewers stream TV and movies for 1-3 hours in one sitting, and 38 per cent say they stream for 3 hours or more. On average, viewers are juggling nearly 7 streaming services, with a mix of paid streaming services (3.9 on average) and free services (2.6 on average).

Tubi, which recently surpassed 97 million monthly active users and streamed over 10 billion hours during the 2024 calendar year. More than 95 per cent of viewing on Tubi is on-demand movies and TV shows. Over thirty-four percent of Tubi viewers are between the ages of 18-34, over half are Gen Z or Millennials and nearly half are multicultural, while 77 per cent report not having cable, according to the November MRI Cord Evolution Study. In February, Tubi delivered the most-streamed Super Bowl in history as part of Fox Sport’s game day takeover, reaching 15.5 million peak concurrent streaming viewers and a 13.6 million average minute audience.

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Tags: advertising, Fox, Gen Z, streaming, Tubi