Tubi CEO Anjali Sud on how the streamer attracts younger viewers

FastCompany: It’s one of the trickiest questions for any leader, especially in times of transformative change: when to follow the herd and when to go it alone. Since taking the reins as CEO of Tubi in September 2023, Anjali Sud has been finding a unique path for the Fox-owned streamer. The biggest streaming services in the world— Disney+ , Netflix, Prime—battle for premium content and subscription dollars. Tubi, meanwhile, has gone all in on free, with its on-demand streaming app and library of more than 300,000 movies and shows.

Tubi was the first streamer to add a TikTok FYP-style video scroll to its mobile interface to help users discover new shows by replicating the UX of the social media app that competes for their attention. ( Netflix has since launched its own version.) All of this aligns with the streamer’s strategy to target young people who have never had a cable subscription and prefer rabbit holes to broad buckets of content (an approach Sud has called “niche as core”).

Tubi’s genre-spanning library includes everything from blockbusters like Jurassic World and originals like the young adult sports romance Sidelined: The QB and Me to content from a growing roster of social media creators including Jubilee, Kinigra Deon, and FunnyMike. It’s working. While user growth seems to have slowed after exploding from 64 million in February 2023 to 97 million by the end of 2024 (Tubi now has more than 100 million users), profitability has arrived earlier than expected.

Tubi generated $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2025 revenue and closed its second consecutive EBITDA-profitable quarter at the end of last year, powered by 19% year-over-year revenue growth and a 27% surge in user engagement. I spoke to Sud about how she got here—and how she plans to maintain Tubi’s momentum in the face of ferocious competition. When you left Vimeo for Tubi in 2023, you wanted to redefine the streaming experience, especially for younger users. Take us back to that moment. What was your vision for Tubi? I had spent almost a decade at Vimeo, helping to provide tools for creators to tell their stories.

What I learned from that experience was that creators need audience, and it helps if the experience is free. Gen Z, Gen Alpha—they expect that streaming should feel as easy and personalized as when they open up Instagram or TikTok. Where Tubi has approached it a little bit differently is that most of the [free advertising-supported television] platforms out there [e.g., Pluto TV and Roku] were taking live linear television and putting that [up] for free. You open up an episode guide, you scroll through channels, and you watch. We made a different bet: free on-demand streaming. Think of it like a free Netflix.

We have Hollywood movies and TV series all on demand. We make original movies, we now have creator content on the platform—all on demand. Audiences want what they want when they want it. Tubi’s fans seem to both love it and gently mock it. I’m curious how you see that. Does Tubi have to be cool? Or does Tubi just have to be thought of with affection, as long as people are using it. I love it [the mocking]! I really do. For years, Tubi, we’ve had a little shade, particularly, I’d say, Hollywood, this questioning of, well— The B movies, yeah. Wait, are you premium?

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The article discusses Tubi's innovative strategies to attract younger viewers in a competitive streaming market, which is significant for brand strategy professionals focused on audience engagement and content personalization.