Media agency buyers and planners were impressed by News Corp Australia’s All Screens presentation and believe the addition of Tubi rounds off its screens proposition.
Yesterday, hundreds of media buyers, marketers and partners attended News Corp Australia’s All Screens event in Sydney, which unveiled further details about how the AVOD Tubi enhances its screens advertising proposition.
Brands can now advertise on short-form video, long-form video and connected TV through a single buy and target consumers by using News Corp Australia’s audience intelligence platform Intent Connect.
Tubi has more than 100 million viewers across 11 markets. It is one of the largest streamers in the US, where it has 90 million viewers, and in Canada, where it is watched by a third of adults.
In Australia, Tubi is a relatively recent addition to a cluttered streaming marketplace. Although News Corp and Tubi wouldn’t divulge how many Aussies watch Tubi, its viewership hours have increased by more than 30 per cent since News Corp began selling Tubi advertising in March.
At the presentation, News Corp Australia’s sales chief Lou Barrett offered three special deals to advertisers who commit to a $250,000 investment in FY26. These are $20 CPM for small screen video ads and a $25 CPM for ads on Tubi.
Media buyers and planners describe the addition of Tubi to the News Corp Australia tent as a step in the right direction, creating a more rounded screens offering.
WPP Media’s general manager of investment partnershipsClaire Butterworth told B&T that advertisers now have a lot of different ways to engage with consumers across the News Corp ecosystem.
“It’s a very welcome addition. You’ve now got a broad range of BVODs, SVODs and AVODs. We will evaluate it but it’s an exciting proposition,” she said.
“The fact that it’s free is a point of difference. Consumers are able to access premium content and there is no charge, which should be quite attractive.”
She said if Tubi Australia can reach similar market penetration to the USor Canada, Tubi could have a positive impact for WPP Media’s clients.
“Incrementality is incredibly important,” she said. “The results and the outcomes are delivered by the sum of all parts. There’s not one particular publisher or format that is going to deliver all of our clients’ business needs.”
UM head on media planning Michael Mellington also praised News Corp Australia’s narrative about Tubi providing incremental audience gains. This was illustrated in the presentation by Tubi’s international markets managing director and EVP David Salmon, who said that between 60-70 per cent of Tubi’s audience do not use rival BVODs 10play, Nine Now and 7plus (see image above).
“The incrementality piece is interesting. The data sceptic in me says, whilst we fundamentally believe there is incrementality there, I’d like to see proof in the pudding, whether that is through VOZ or work through Kantar,” Mellington said.
“We want to look at it through a holistic approach, so that we can get uniform measurement across all screens so that we can make those incremental decisions.
Mellington said that UM and its client Mattel has already benefitted by advertising across News Corp Australia’s all screen proposition.
EssenceMediacom implementation and activation group director Matt Fiorenza said that News Corp’s focus on video is “the right approach for engagement”.
