Netflix used to send DVDs of almost any movie you could think of straight to your door. Their catalog was like the Library of Alexandria for movie buffs, allowing ordinary people to attend their own private film school.
But then came the streaming world and everything changed. Today, most streaming services have invested huge sums in original programs. The practical result is that their catalogs have taken a hit, so much so that, especially for films from before the 1980s, the selection can be very limited.
All streaming services combined can offer a respectable inventory, but increasingly, the humble Tubi seems to stand out for the depth and quality of its movie selection. It may not have the notoriety of Netflix, but Tubi is quickly becoming one of the most valuable streaming services in any movie lover's arsenal.
Licensed Movies Disappear From Streaming Services
As streamers raise their prices, they face constant pressure from shareholders to not only maintain but also grow their subscriber base. For many streamers, the decision has been made to pivot to original content in order to attract viewers to movies and TV shows that could only be found on their platform.
There is some logic to this. After all, if you want to watch “Bridgerton,” you need Netflix is an extremely expensive business model. Netflix, Prime Video and Apple TV Plus are spending more and more money on original content, whether it is projects created in-house or independently made films whose distribution rights are bought for astronomical sums.
By investing in originals, streamers end up drastically reducing their licensed film catalogs, abandoning the entire history of cinema in favor of whatever new project they’re passionate about at the time. As a result, they’re stocked with original films and series that range widely in quality, from the cheapest, most disposable reality shows (ahem, “Selling Sunset”) to the occasional prestige drama designed to air during awards season (“Maestro”).
Tubi picks up the leftovers
While Tubi has only tentatively taken its first steps into creating original content, it's quickly becoming a go-to destination for audiences interested in films made before 2000. More and more often, when we're looking to catch up on an off-the-beaten-path movie from the '90s, '80s, or, heaven forbid, even earlier, they're showing up on Tubi rather than its subscription counterparts.
A quick glance at their current lineup shows Hitchcockian dramas, silent films, foreign classics, indie dramas, and pretty much anything else you could ask for. Plus, their interface seems to have organized the catalog using near-Earth logic, which is more than many other streaming services can say.
You can sort by genre, of course, but Tubi also has robust sections of curated content. When you search for “Cult Classics,” for example, you’ll find films as diverse as “Tank Girl,” “Basket Case,” “Freaks,” “Waterworld,” and “Party Monster.” Their “Canceled Too Soon” section features a delightful collection of one-season wonders that most people barely remember, like “Pan Am,” “The Tomorrow People,” and “Swamp Thing.”
The depth of Tubi's catalog and its willingness to embrace more offbeat selections, rather than focusing exclusively on a small range of predictable classics, make the free streaming service the discovery vehicle these platforms were always meant to be.
You don't have to pay a single cent
And let's not forget: Tubi is freeMajor streaming services are continually raising their prices, trying to find new ways to offer less while charging more. Between introducing ads that you can only avoid by paying even higher fees and cracking down on password sharing, Netflix and its competitors seem to be approaching a choke point where subscribers have to start wondering if it’s really worth it. Meanwhile, while Tubi does embed ads in every single video, they’re easy to forgive considering you’re not paying a single cent to watch any of their content.
Don’t worry, we still love Netflix, Prime Video, Max, Hulu, and the like. They’ve given us hours and hours of original, engaging content, even if they’re peppered with less-than-stellar offerings. But while those providers have led the way in developing their own shows and movies, Tubi has quietly and efficiently snuck into the market and carved out a niche for itself by adopting the business model that made Netflix successful back when they were mail-order only: creating a vast catalog of content spanning the history of film and television.