Tubi was founded by
Farhad Massoudi and Thomas Ahn Hicks of AdRise in
San Francisco, launching in 2014 as a free service under the name Tubi TV. In May 2017, they raised US$20 million in a round of funding from Jump Capital,
Danhua Capital, Cota Capital, and
Foundation Capital. In June 2019, Tubi announced that it had over 20 million active monthly users, and later in September, the company reported that users had streamed 132 million hours of content. In September 2020, the company reported 33 million monthly users. In 2019, Tubi announced it would nearly double its 2018 spending on licensed content, taking it close to US$100 million. In February 2019, Tubi signed a distribution deal with
NBCUniversal, which included 400 TV episodes and films. Tubi became available on
Vizio SmartCast on September 25, 2019. On October 21, Tubi launched Tubi Kids, a dedicated hub for the streamer's children-centric content via
Roku and supported devices.
Sale to Fox On March 17, 2020,
Fox Corporation (which had recently been spun off from
21st Century Fox following
that company’s acquisition by Disney one year prior) announced that it would acquire Tubi for $440 million cash upfront, with the sale being completed on April 20; Massoudi would remain at the company, which would continue as a separate subsidiary. In December 2021, Fox acquired
MarVista Entertainment, in a move to bolster Tubi's library and leverage its production capabilities for
made-for-TV films. In December 2022, Tubi signed a content deal with South Korean entertainment company
CJ ENM, licensing a number of Korean-language films, television series, and
K-pop programs. (South Korean content is one of Tubi's fastest-growing categories.) In January 2023, Tubi signed a content deal with
Warner Bros. Discovery for 11 new FAST channels and adding on demand content from various WBD properties. During
Super Bowl LVII, Tubi aired the commercial
Interface Interruption. The advertisement tricked its viewers into believing the game had restarted with announcers
Kevin Burkhardt and
Greg Olsen talking vaguely about the game, before making it appear as though someone had exited the game and changed to Tubi, choosing to watch the 2005 mystery film
Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The advertisement, which was purposefully short to alleviate concerns, was met with mixed reactions with some acclaiming the commercial In July 2023,
Anjali Sud was announced as the new CEO of Tubi following the departure of Massoudi. In December 2023, Tubi signed a new content deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to bring nine new FAST channels and added some of
DC Comics shows and films only on demand. In May 2024, Tubi sued a law firm called Keller Postman for allegedly manufacturing tens of thousands of
meritless discrimination claims against it in the hopes of coercing a settlement. In February 2025, Tubi aired
Super Bowl LIX. That same month, Tubi's owner, Fox Corporation, announced it had acquired the podcast and media company, Red Seat Ventures. Red Seat Ventures would still operate as an independent company, but would be placed under Tubi's parent company, Tubi Media Group. On March 4, 2025,
Fox Sports Mexico announced through a statement that it had taken legal action against Fox Corporation (owner of Tubi) and Grupo Pachuca because the alleged right of preference for bidding to continue broadcasting the home matches of
Club León and
Pachuca in the
Liga MX for Mexican territory had not been respected, for which reason the channel asked a judge to order that these games remain without official broadcast on Tubi until the matter is resolved. However, both Fox Corporation and Grupo Pachuca subsequently responded, clarifying that Grupo Lauman (owner of Fox Sports Mexico) had not paid the corresponding amount for the television rights of both clubs, and therefore the negotiation on behalf of Fox Corp. was legal and that the matches would continue to be streamed on Tubi; in addition, Fox Corp. indicated that the permission that Grupo Lauman had to use the Fox brand had expired and therefore it would have to gradually withdraw it (Fox Sports would later deny this last point). In October 2025, Tubi announced a partnership with Canadian media company
Bell Media, in which it will handle Canadian advertising sales for the service, as well as co-develop new programming for the platform. The agreement expands on an existing development deal between Bell Media and Fox Entertainment. == Investors and board members ==