Tubi Expands Animation Library with 'LEGO Masters,' LEGO, Mattel, 'Garfield' and 'Anpanman' Properties

SAN FRANCISCO – Tubi, a division of FOX Entertainment, today made a series of announcements during its inaugural Newfront virtual presentation. With special appearances by The Masked Singer’s Ken Jeong and Nicole Scherzinger, and FOX Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier, the company unveiled it will be launching innovative, new advertising solutions, partnerships with key Demand Side Platforms (DSPs), as well as a number of content offerings which will further bolster Tubi’s premium content library.

With Tubi reaching a milestone 200 million hours of content streamed in April, the ad-supported streaming service has expanded its audience reach for advertisers who want to connect with a younger, more diverse audience across FOX and Tubi’s platforms. Tubi’s personalization technology enhances and diversifies FOX’s direct-to-consumer offerings and advertising solutions.

“This is a pivotal time for Tubi, and for the broader AVOD space, as our relationship with FOX paves the way for a massive opportunity,” said Farhad Massoudi, Tubi CEO. “Tubi and FOX proudly share a core ad-supported business model, with each complementing the other and seeking to provide our partners the best possible ad experience. We’re excited to expand on our mission in democratizing content for consumers and embodying the power of free.”

Tubi announced the following advertising and content offerings:

ADVERTISING

• Advanced Frequency Management – Tubi is addressing viewer and buyer frustration with frequency and repetition of ads in OTT environments by developing an advanced frequency tool that caps exposure at the campaign level, regardless of supply source. Tubi’s advanced technology scans every piece of creative that comes in from various demand sources to identify and compare the brand and campaign in order to make a determination for delivery. Now, by adding Tubi direct buys to OTT media investments, buyers gain confidence that their intended exposure is never duplicated from their media buys with aggregators and ad networks. This results in a better ad experience for consumers, reduced waste, and maximized reach for advertisers.

• Demand Side Platforms (DSP) Integrations – Inherent in Tubi’s tech stack is its proprietary ad server that among other benefits, brings buyers closer to supply through direct integrations with leading demand-side platforms including The Trade Desk, Amobee, Adelphic, and Adobe Ad Cloud. Through these integrations, advertisers have more control over targeting and the ad placements they want coupled with the flexibility to execute larger programs and sponsorships through programmatic guarantees.  

CONTENT

Tubi announced a number of content deals to further grow its already large library of premium movies and television shows - many of which will be available for the first time for free. Forthcoming content includes:

• LEGO Masters – The entire first season of FOX’s LEGO Masters, television’s #1 new entertainment series and #1 co-viewed entertainment program, will begin streaming on Tubi this fall. In LEGO Masters, teams of two LEGO enthusiasts go head-to-head, with infinite possibilities and an unlimited supply of LEGO bricks. Throughout the competition, host Will Arnett and expert judges encourage the amateur builders, introduce incredible challenges, and put the creations to the test. The competing pairs who impress the judges the most progress to the next round, until the finale, during which the top teams face off for a cash prize, the ultimate LEGO trophy and the grand title of LEGO Master. LEGO Masters’ February premiere was the 2019-20 season’s #1 broadcast debut (excluding post-NFL) and #1 broadcast launch in over a year.
• The LEGO Company – The iconic toy company is bringing some of their most popular franchises to Tubi Kids starting in July. Included will be content from brands such as Ninjago, the epic story of teenage ninjas battling dark forces; LEGO City, which chronicles the delightfully silly and dynamic slices of life in a LEGO metropolis; LEGO Friends, a show about a group of friends to make the world a better place, starting with their hometown; and Nexo Knights, following five young knights who must protect their kingdom from the threat of Lava Monsters.
• Mattel – Tubi will also begin offering content featuring some of the most beloved characters from Mattel starting in July. Titles include Barbie Dreamtopia, in which a young girl learns valuable lessons with Barbie in a magical land, Monster High, following four teenage monsters who travel the world and solve mysteries together, Enchantimals, which tells the story of a group of girls and their animal friends, and WellieWishers from American Girl, following five young girls who are out to make the world a kinder, friendlier place.
• Garfield – We all hate Mondays and love lasagna. This famous cat will be coming to Tubi Kids with 12 Primetime Emmy nominated specials, including Garfield’s Halloween Adventure, Garfield’s Thanksgiving, A Garfield Christmas, Garfield Goes Hollywood, and more from 9 Story Media Group starting in July.
• Anpanman – Through a deal with TMS Entertainment, making its English and Spanish language debut and available exclusively on Tubi, are six movies featuring Anpanman, one of the most recognized animated characters in Asia and the most popular character among both boys and girls in Japan. Anpanman is so popular that the K-Pop band BTS wrote a song about him. The Anpanman franchise has generated over $60 billion in merchandising sales. Anpanman is a superhero whose head is an anpan, a popular Japanese pastry. He is a champion of justice and flies anywhere to help those in trouble. The movies will be available starting this fall.
• Henchmen – From Vertical Entertainment and BRON, the production company behind the popular animated movie The Willoughbys and the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife, is the family-friendly film Henchmen, about a young man who dreams of becoming a supervillain. Henchmen, a 2020 release with a star-studded voice cast including James Marsden, Rosario Dawson and Craig Robinson, will be available on Tubi starting in December, exclusively and for the first time anywhere for free.
• Monster Family – Also coming to Tubi is Monster Family, a family-friendly animated comedy starring the voice talent of Emily Watson, Jason Isaacs, and Nick Frost, following a family whose Halloween is turned upside down when they are turned into actual monsters. Monster Family will be available for the first time free, exclusively on Tubi starting October 1. From Viva Pictures.
• Big Fish & Begonia – Another animated film, Big Fish & Begonia, will be available exclusively on Tubi starting in November for the first time for free. The animated fantastical film from China, which earned $90M in global box office, follows the story of a teenage girl who transforms into a dolphin. From Shout! Factory.
• The Magic Brush – Making its US premiere exclusively on Tubi this fall, and for the first time in both English and Spanish, is The Magic Brush. This animated feature, which received creative and technological advice from Disney China, is based on a Chinese legend about a boy whose brush makes whatever he paints come alive and garners the attention of a power-hungry general. From All Rights Entertainment.

SPANISH LANGUAGE

• Tubi en Español - Tubi is dedicated to super serving the underserved by bringing entertainment to all audiences - regardless of culture, race, gender, sexual orientation or language as it is the core of the platform’s mission to democratize content and truly embody the power of free. Viewers are looking for their voices to be heard and to see representation of their experiences on the screen. As a next phase of expanding the most diverse library of content later this year, Tubi will launch a dedicated Spanish-language destination within the Tubi app called Tubi en Español which will contain over 800 titles - representing more than 3,000 hours of content - a deeply immersive experience unparalleled in streaming. Content partners and additional details about Tubi en Español will be announced later this year. 

Tubi is available on Android and iOS mobile devices, Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Comcast Xfinity X1, Cox Contour, and on OTT devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, and soon on Hisense TVs globally. Consumers can also watch Tubi content on the web at http://www.tubi.tv/.

Source: Tubi

AWN Staff Editor