Tubi users can now create and share playlists of movies and shows available on the streaming service.
Tubi is a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service that has both live channels and on-demand content.
Today, the Fox-owned company announced “Mixtapes” as a way for users to make watchlists from Tubi’s “nearly 400,000 movies and TV episodes,” Tubi’s announcement said, adding:
They can give each mixtape a title and description and arrange the entertainment inside in whatever order feels right to them. Viewers can build one entirely on their own, or describe what they’re looking for and let Tubi offer a starting place that they can edit, rearrange, or rebuild entirely. When their mixtape is finished, they can publish and share it with other people or keep it for themselves.
Tubi’s Mixtapes website already features numerous playlists, including: “Millennial Memory Lane”—with movies like Cruel Intentions(1999) and The Fifth Element (1997) and shows such as Everybody Hates Chris (2005–2009) and Degrassi: The Next Generation(2001–2015); and “Bald Baddies”—which includes Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) and Central Intelligence (2016).
Watching a Mixtape doesn’t require a Tubi account, but making one does.
Tubi’s Mixtapes comes at a time when streaming service providers are seeking a way to address the content fragmentation that’s frequently cited as a frustration among streaming users, as well as users struggling to find something to watch. Gracenote’s “2025 State of Play” report, for instance, surveyed 3,000 consumers in the US, Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico, and the UK and found that “nearly 33 percent of streaming users feel content and service fragmentation negatively impacts their TV experience.”
Users are also likely to stop using a streaming service if they struggle to find something they want to watch, per the survey. Forty-nine percent of users said they “are willing to cancel a service based on difficulty finding what to watch.” Additionally, 19 percent of respondents said they would “abandon a viewing session if their content search is not successful.”
Although Tubi users don’t have paid subscriptions to cancel, making it easier to find relevant content could help Tubi grow its user base and increase the time people spend watching, which supports the advertising business Tubi relies on.
Sharable watchlists are rare among streaming services. Mubi has a similar feature where users can make lists of movies and shows that people can follow, but the lists can feature content that’s not available on Mubi.
Plex and JustWatch also let people create and share curated watchlists with other users.
Still, it’s nice to see a streaming service, especially a free one, add new capabilities at a time when many other streaming services are consistently increasing subscription prices. And while some streaming service companies are turning to AI to help with content recommendations, a human connection may appeal more to certain users, while keeping costs lower for Tubi.
Scharon HardingSenior Technology Reporter
Scharon HardingSenior Technology Reporter
Scharon is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica writing news, reviews, and analysis on consumer gadgets and services. She’s been reporting on technology for over 10 years, with bylines at Tom’s Hardware, Channelnomics, and CRN UK.
Source: arstechnica.com
