Tubi Report Finds Increased Interest in Ad-Supported Streaming

Streaming has clearly changed the television industry. According to a new report from Tubi, streaming is also affecting relationships. It’s impacting the way viewers consume video, naturally. But it’s also changing friendships and affecting the way consumers interact with advertising.

Tubi hired The Harris Poll to survey 2,500 people aged 18 and up between November 24, 2025 and December 2, 2025.

The key findings include a growing acceptance of free ad-supported streaming, and viewers spending more time with movies and shows while watching on larger devices.

“While the demand for streaming remains strong, in our current economy, viewers are becoming more selective about how they spend their money and what they’re getting from their streaming services, especially as their choices have expanded,” Tubi said in its 2026 Stream report.

Tubi says that viewers are becoming “more intentional.” That finding is based on viewers spending more time viewing. According to the survey, 55% of viewers report streaming TV or movies for 1–3 hours in one sitting, and 90% say they are more engaged while streaming TV and movies, compared to the time they spend with social media.

Even more noteworthy is that viewers say they’re purposefully opting towards bigger screens like televisions as a way to denote quality streaming time, as opposed to time spent scrolling on a mobile phone.

Viewers are looking to improve their streaming experience, with 51% saying they are streaming on a bigger screen, 45% saying they enjoy creating a more comfortable environment for viewing, and 42% reporting they watch with family, friends, a partner or a pet.

Watching on demand was their favorite way of accessing content versus watching according to set schedules on linear channels.

A surprising finding was that 90% of viewers said they are most engaged while streaming TV or movies, compared to 82% for live events and 79% for social media.

For 75% of viewers, TV time represents quality time spent with others. 52% are watching with people they don’t live with, like going to a friend’s house.

And 61% agreed that they were more likely to date someone if they are fans of the same movies and TV shows.

But the elevated importance of viewing can put pressure on relationships.

Picking a show gets trickier, with 58% of survey respondents reporting that it takes at least 10 minutes to decide what to watch.

One third of those surveyed said they will soon sever ties with a significant other due to differences in TV and movie taste. That’s up 15% from last year’s survey. And 67% wouldn't share their streaming login with a romantic partner unless they were seriously dating.

But the Tubi report notes that “as important as it is for viewers to spend quality streaming time with friends and family, with the economy tightening, more viewers across generations are looking for ways to save money and spend more strategically. One of the first places they look to save is paid streaming subscriptions.”

According to the survey, 74% have (or would) cancel a subscription due to a price increase; 67% have skipped watching a new show or movie once they realized they would have to pay for a subscription streaming service and 82% say switching to a free streaming service would help avoid rising costs.

To cut streaming costs, ad-supported streaming is becoming a more palatable choice.

Across all audiences (84%), and particularly among Gen Z (90%), an increasing number of viewers said that they see ads as a fair trade-off for accessing free content on streaming platforms.

This year’s audiences are 12% more accepting of ads while streaming, according to the report.

“In fact, viewers were more likely to tell us that they would rather watch content on a free platform with ads than on a paid platform with ads, with over half of viewers telling us that password crackdowns and being asked to pay for ad-supported content are major reasons they would end a paid subscription (65% for Gen Z)."

Even when they decide to watch on a free ad-supported platform, viewers would rather see fewer ads. But also important is that the ads they do see are relevant, with 78% reporting that ads feel more acceptable when they match their interests.
Viewers said they wanted programming and advertising that mirrors what they are fans of.

“When brands engage fandoms authentically, they aren’t just participating in culture—they are positioning themselves at the point where identity becomes intent,” the report said. Noting that 67% of viewers are more likely to support brands when their fandoms are reflected in ads.

Of course, new content is great, but Tubi found that viewers long for classic, nostalgic content as well.

The survey found that 97% of viewers are interested in watching content released more than 10 years ago, while 79% said they think streaming services should remind them of content they used to love. Some, 63%, said they like classic content because they think it’s good.

The report concludes by noting that streaming platforms “like Tubi are thriving in this environment not just because they are free, but because they combine access with cultural relevance.”

While affordability is a factor, Tubi says its fastest growing audience makes over $200,000 annually.

“What ultimately deepens their loyalty is whether a platform reflects who they are. And viewers see that reflected on Tubi,” the report concludes. “For these audiences, the value exchange goes beyond price. It’s about access to stories that feel culturally resonant, personally relevant, and inclusive. Ads are accepted not just because the platform is free, but because the content feels worth supporting. “

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In another political advertising development, Comcast’s FreeWheel said it is integrating audience data from Tunnl into its platform, giving political and public affairs CTV the ability to target audience at scale with precision.

“As campaigns and issues-focused organizations head toward the 2026 midterms, speed and flexibility are key,” said Michelle Eule, executive director, data and measurement partnerships at FreeWheel. “Audience strategy can shift day to day and activation needs to keep pace. With Tunnl now available on-platform, our buyers can more quickly find and activate audiences built for political and adjacent use cases, spanning topics such as issues, advocacy, policy and reputation.”

Tunnl brings 3,500 issue-driven segments into FreeWheel on-platform activation. That will be paired with FreeWheel’s 90% match rate, letting buyers target with confidence and less waste.

“This is the type of direct workflow that allows teams to focus on message relevance and campaign strategy, not the mechanics for delivery,” said Jeff Teng, senior VP of Partnerships at Tunnl. “When every second counts in campaign season, this partnership turns time-consuming processes into rapid execution against behavior-based audiences.”

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Multiply, a startup dedicated to B2B advertising with what it calls Self-Learning Ads, said it completed a $9.5 million funding round.

The company says its AI-based technology helps advertisers improvise the results of their campaigns on Google and LinkedIn Ads by 300% to 500%. Some of the funding will be used to prepare to deal with ChatGPT ads.

Multiply was founded by Matt Jayson, formerly at Google and Brex, and Ashish Warty, formerly senior VP, engineering at HackerOne and engineering leader at Dropbox and Airship.

The funding round was led by Mayfield, with participation from Sorenson Capital, Instacart Co-Founder Max Mullen, Google Head of Gemini and Google Labs Josh Woodward, and executives from HubSpot, Braze, Issuu, Brex, Sierra and Common Room, among others.

“We help companies get discovered by their dream customers. To do this, we’ve built the world’s most insatiable AI agent. Just like a great growth marketer, it’s never satisfied. There’s never enough pipeline. So, it keeps learning, testing, and finding ways to get better,” said Jayson.