It's Tubi's Time
New York magazine|April 24 - May 07, 2023
How streaming’s weirdest player won the internet.
JOSEF ADALIAN
It's Tubi's Time

IN FEBRUARY, as roughly 110 million football fans sweated out the final quarter of Super Bowl LVII, TV sets across America simultaneously switched away from the big game. Instead of hearing Fox announcers Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen, bewildered viewers watched as a phantom force appeared to hack their screens and begin scrolling through the tiles of a standard-issue streaming app. Only when the invisible hand clicked play on the 2005 Brangelina classic Mr. & Mrs. Smith did viewers realize they were watching a clever promotional spot for Tubi, Netflix’s geekier, freakier, and totally free rival.

This story is from the April 24 - May 07, 2023 edition of New York magazine.

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This story is from the April 24 - May 07, 2023 edition of New York magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

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