CTV-05: in conversation with Ross Appleton, General Manager UK, Tubi
Ross Appleton explains how Tubi — Fox Corporation's free, ad-supported streaming service — is building its UK presence by focusing on fandoms, data-driven personalisation, and a viewer-first approach to advertising. Launched in the UK in July 2024, Tubi now claims the largest free catalogue of content in the UK amongst all streamers, attracting a younger, more diverse audience — over half Gen Z and millennial — that traditional broadcasters struggle to reach. The conversation covers Tubi's fandom-led content strategy, the differences and similarities between US and UK streaming markets, the pitch to advertisers, the Titan OS partnership for CTV ad sales, cross-device identification challenges, shopability experiments, and what Ross sees as the future of accessible TV advertising for businesses of all sizes.
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Key Discussions in This Episode
- Introducing Tubi and the UK launch (00:44–01:23)
- Ross introduces his role as General Manager of Tubi's UK business, having joined in October 2024 after serving as Launch Director for ITVX. Tubi launched in the UK in July 2024 and has spent 18 months scaling its content, distribution and audience.
- Entering a crowded UK market as a late entrant (01:23–03:26)
- How Tubi differentiates from BBC, ITV, Netflix and others. The service focuses on fandoms rather than acting as "arbiters of taste" — personalising the experience using machine learning so that each viewer's Tubi looks entirely different. Ross notes Tubi attracts a younger, more diverse and harder-to-reach audience.
- Fandoms over demographics: a data-led content strategy (03:26–05:20)
- Rather than trying to predict or create fandoms, Tubi listens to data, tests hypotheses, and leans into what resonates. When a fandom emerges, the team "super-serves" it with deeper content. This iterative, data-driven approach has been Tubi's DNA since its US startup phase.
- US vs UK: similarities and differences (05:20–08:25)
- Personalisation, machine learning and genres like horror, thriller and true crime translate well across markets. Black cinema, a huge fandom in the US, doesn't carry the same weight in the UK, where different fandoms emerge. The critical difference: "free" is not a novelty in the UK, given the heritage of BBC, ITV and Channel 4 — so Tubi must cut through with its approach to engagement, fandom depth and content breadth.
- From ITV to Tubi: the attraction of building something new (08:25–10:14)
- Ross describes the draw of growing a new service in-market and embracing technical changes that incumbent broadcasters can find threatening. Tubi sees shifts in TV consumption as tailwinds rather than headwinds, unencumbered by legacy systems.
- The elevator pitch to advertisers (10:14–12:37)
- Ross outlines four pillars: a premium, brand-safe environment (80% big-screen viewing); a younger, harder-to-reach audience (over a third unreachable on the B-VODs — ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5); viewer comfort with the ad-funded trade-off; and light ad loads that benefit both viewers and advertisers. Around six minutes or less of ads per hour — significantly lower than both US and UK linear TV.
- Programmatic buying and the Titan OS partnership (13:42–16:34)
- Tubi sells inventory on a programmatic basis and has announced an exclusive UK partnership with Titan OS, which provides TV operating systems across Europe. The combined data from Tubi viewing behaviour and Titan's OS-level audience data enables advertisers to target segments across Tubi's inventory and wider Titan placements — homepage ads, 30-second spots, pause ads — offering a 360-degree CTV buying experience via DSP/SSP or direct.
- Cross-device identification: bridging the big screen and the mobile (16:34–19:46)
- Ross acknowledges the challenge of matching identities across devices on the sofa. The approach combines device IDs within households, contextual signals (content type, time of day, viewing patterns) and modelling to infer audience characteristics. In the US, Tubi trialled a shopability experience with ShopSensor AI during a Super Bowl red-carpet programme, linking the big screen to a mobile storefront for real-time purchasing. With 70% of US viewers shopping on their phones while watching TV, connecting these experiences is a key area of experimentation.
- The enduring power of the big screen (20:03–22:09)
- Despite predictions of TV's decline, 80% of Tubi viewing is on the big screen. Viewers frequently migrate from mobile to TV for a more premium experience. Ross's view: the physical TV set remains hugely important in homes. Consumption patterns are changing — more on-demand, less linear — but the big screen itself endures.
- How to buy: accessibility for SMEs and the democratisation of TV advertising (22:09–25:47)
- Advertisers can buy programmatically through a DSP (targeting Tubi specifically or as part of a wider CTV buy) or work directly with Tubi and Titan for bespoke campaigns — first-in-break, full-break takeovers, pause ads, 360 packages. Ross notes the biggest barrier for smaller businesses has been production costs, not CPMs — but generative AI and lower production costs are opening up TV advertising to SMEs. The PSBs are also targeting this segment, signalling an industry-wide shift.
- The evolving ad landscape: shopability, retail media and performance (25:47–29:32)
- Two fronts of evolution: increasingly sophisticated ad products (precision targeting, shopability, attribution from ad exposure to outcome) and broader market access for smaller businesses. Ross highlights that what works in Tubi's more established US business can be implemented in the UK because both markets run on the same back-end technology platform.
- Winning in the attention economy (29:32–33:08)
- With peak attention already reached, the winners will be those relentlessly focused on viewer engagement. Tubi's philosophy: get the viewer engagement right and the advertising revenue follows. Being data-led, adapting to how younger demographics watch differently, and evolving the service accordingly will separate the winners from the losers.
- What's next for Tubi UK (33:08–35:42)
- Ross is excited about new Tubi Originals (including the hit Sidelined 2: Intercepted), experimentation with the "Creatorverse" — bringing YouTube creators onto the platform and giving them a premium environment to grow — and the fast pace of industry change overall.
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Key Quotes
"Whatever you're into, we're going to have a lot of that content. We are not arbiters of taste that push certain bits of content and tell you what you should be watching on a certain day or a certain week."
"No one, it doesn't matter who you are, can predict what audiences want and what's going to be a hit. And so we're humble in that respect."
"The unique selling point of free doesn't resonate quite in the same way as it does in the US, where free TV and free streaming is a novelty. Whereas here, we've got a BBC, ITV, Channel 4 — there's a heritage of free TV."
"Our prioritisation of our viewer is actually great for advertisers too. Lower ad loads are good for viewers, but they're really good for advertisers too."
"The cost of creating the ad is often what's been problematic, but with AI now, generative AI, and lower production costs on the ad side, we're seeing more and more businesses come through to advertise on TV."
"You need to be relentlessly focused on viewer engagement. You need to put the viewer first above all else… our belief is if you get the viewer engagement right, then the advertising dollars and pounds will flow."
"The physical TV screen itself, the large screen, will remain important in homes and households… the big screen itself remains hugely powerful."
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Links
Tubi: tubi.tv | corporate.tubitv.com
Titan OS: titanos.tv
CTV Summit: RetailX.Events CTV Think Tank — 14 May 2026, London - https://retailx.events/retail-mediax/ctv-ott-streaming-summit
