Tubi promises passion and performance at NewFronts

On Tuesday, as actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish emceed an audience of advertisers through Tubitopia, Tubi’s NewFronts presentation, she did a double take at one man in the audience.

“You look bored as hell, man. Do you hate your job?” she cracked, followed by a directive: “Find your passion.”

Haddish’s advice was both a light rib and a theme of Tubi’s NewFronts pitch: “Everything you will hear today is united by one word: passion,” Anjali Sud, Tubi CEO, said on stage. “Because in the war for attention, passion wins.”

The event’s message focused on the ad-supported streamer’s ability to serve young, passionate fandoms and deliver ad performance for its buyers with new offerings.

The Fox-owned streamer, which boasted 100 million monthly active users that watched over 10 billion hours last year, hosted a hands-on Tubi-fied utopia while reinforcing the idea that monoculture has been replaced with hyperpersonalization—all while unveiling new ad formats, a strategic partnership with Amazon, and upcoming Tubi Originals and sports programming.

Ad it up

Last year, Tubi became the “first publisher directly integrated with the Amazon DSP and the first to open up programmatic access to Amazon Publisher Cloud,” according to Vijay Rao, SVP of partner sales at Tubi.

This year, the streamer is expanding its partnership with Amazon, opening up Tubi Priority Access, an exclusive package that offers first-look access to Tubi’s audience through Amazon DSP, which Kelly MacLean, VP, Amazon Ads, said makes Tubi “one of the largest reach publishers in our third-party CTV supply.” Amazon will also be able to match 85% of Tubi’s audience with its own data, allowing for more incremental reach for buyers.

Onstage, Rao asked MacLean how well Tubi had been delivering ads to “those younger, passionate fans, not necessarily on cable, but [with] a ton of purchasing power,” which MacLean affirmed.

“Short answer is, you’re all delivering on your promise to advertisers, on reaching a unique audience,” she said.

In new consumer-facing ad offerings, Tubi presented Scene Sense, Interactive Pause Ads, and Connected Conversions.

Scene Sense appears when a viewer pauses content on Tubi and displays an ad next to information relevant to whatever the viewer was watching, such as cast or soundtrack details.

Interactive Pause Ads is an expansion of an existing format, now adding polls, carousels, and trivia about the advertiser to up engagement.

Connected Conversions will dip into big- and little-screen culture, enabling a CTV-to-mobile journey that allows viewers to engage with and purchase items on their phones after watching an ad on their TV via push notifications, emails, or QR codes.

Teen drama

As the world gears up for the World Cup, Tubi is not caught offside. Along with streaming select opening matches and opening ceremonies, the Tubi team highlighted two sports creator partnerships that combine its creator content and live programming initiatives.

At the event, creator Jesser announced his upcoming series, Jesser’s Ultimate Kickoff while Haddish introduced additional original content from creator Deestroying. Tubi will also be partnering with Apple TV and Formula 1 to offer live, free F1 alt-casts during the 2026 season.

On the film side, two new Tubi originals are taking center stage. Actors Brec Bassinger and Charlie Gillespie trotted out to announce their upcoming film, Remember Me, a “YA supernatural murder-mystery.” Tubi will also soon begin production on Game On, an esports teen romance starring Sky Katz and Case Walker.

“Honestly, our generation, they want more personal stories that they get to feel, and Tubi delivers.” Gillespie said on stage, to which his co-star Bassinger added, “Whether it’s sorority horror, romance, or something totally unexpected, it connects. It taps into what we’re already feeling, the anxiety, the love, the friendships that mean everything…It’s not just about watching something, it’s about seeing yourself in it.”