Sorry Netflix, Tubi just proved it's the best live streaming service

Summary

Tubi offered the Super Bowl for free in 4K, surpassing the quality of paid services.
Tubi’s success with the Super Bowl highlights it’s potential in the live TV realm.
Tubi maintains high value as a free service despite not competing with live TV platforms.

Like many people, I watched the Super Bowl on Sunday. Unlike many people, at least I assume that’s the case, I watched it on Tubi. Tubi made a big push and tried to let as many people know the big game would be available free of charge on the service. I imagine most people who had cable subscriptions or YouTube TV watched on the platform they paid for instead, but Tubi ended up being a very solid way to watch the Eagles defeat the Chiefs.

I subscribe to Hulu + Live TV at the moment, and while I was enjoying the game there for a little bit, I remembered Tubi was also airing the Super Bowl, so I wanted to check it out. When I did it, I was shocked at how well everything worked. What surprised me even more was the quality on display and how it surpassed what I was watching on my paid service.

Tubi

number of users: 80 million
notable shows: Hemlock Grove, Babylon 5, Spartacus, Gotham, Columbo
notable movies: Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, Child’s Play, White House Down, Knives Out, It
Premium Subscription: No
Originals: Yes
Live TV: 200+ channels

FOX announces new streaming service, but it won’t be free like Tubi

Fox is preparing to launch a new paid subscription streaming service for its sports and news content later this year.

Tubi shocked the world

I’m interested in seeing what’s next

For a service that’s completely free of charge, I was shocked to see Tubi offer the Super Bowl in 4K. For the record, YouTube TV charges extra for a 4K plan, so there’s an additional fee on top of the monthly subscription for something Tubi gave away for free. I don’t want to dump all over YouTube TV because this was just a one-off thing for Tubi. Your 4K plan on YouTube TV will continue to pay dividends while Tubi’s Super Bowl was just for a night. I don’t expect people to jump ship from paid TV services, but it would’ve been cool to see YouTube TV offer the Super Bowl in 4K for free, especially since it was one of the game’s sponsors.

To be fair, the Super Bowl has always been available on free TV, but it hasn’t always come with a 4K resolution. On top of that, Tubi worked quite well with my 5.1 surround sound setup. This is another change from the norm because most Tubi content I’ve seen only offers stereo audio. Strangely enough, Tubi had the lowest latency of all the services, according to Phenix. The platform was only 26 seconds behind the live action. When compared to Hulu + Live TV’s 62 second delay, it’s a massive difference. All in all, I consider this a huge win for Tubi, but I don’t know where the service plans to go from here.

Tubi isn’t known for live TV, so it’s hard to imagine the service going in that direction without charging a fee. As of right now, Tubi plans on being a free service for the foreseeable future, but the company is mixing things up a bit. WWE is debuting a new weekly show called Evolve on Tubi. Unlike many of the shows that arrive from other services like HBO, Evolve will air weekly on Wednesdays, so it’s helping Tubi branch out more in the live TV realm, similar to Netflix and Max. I don’t know how many people watched the Super Bowl on Tubi, but I imagine any future show that airs will have less viewership, so it doesn’t seem like there’s any need to worry about the platform buckling under the pressure.

I don’t know if Tubi plans to keep the ball rolling like this, because if it remains a free service, it’ll continue to have some massive value. The downside to Tubi is it doesn’t currently compete at all with live TV services. In the case of the Super Bowl, it came away as arguably the best way to enjoy the game, but moments like that are far and few between.

The Batman is shown on the Tubi app. In the foreground are the symbols for rewinding, pausing, and fast forwarding.

Can you rewind, fast-forward, or pause Tubi?

Tubi lets you watch TV for free. How does rewinding, fast-forwarding, or pausing programs work?

Tubi is a unique service

There’s really nothing like it

Tubi

Although there’s a hidden cost of using Tubi, I can’t help but feel like it’s one of my favorite services. In 2025, I’ve been cutting back on streaming platforms, so having something like Tubi available has been nice. There’s a lot on the platform ranging from B-list movies from the ’80s or recent things like The Batman or Gossip Girl. You’re in for a surprise pretty much any time you open up Tubi, and the fact it’s all free is just a cherry on top.

For a platform that doesn’t charge a subscription, it makes sense the marketing budget might not be as high as services like Netflix. Landing the Super Bowl in 4K is a great step forward for the company, and I’m sure it got a lot of eyeballs from that alone. If somebody tuned in for that, there’s a chance they’ll stick around and see what else is on display.

Quality has been a problem with Tubi, with much of the service only broadcasting in 720p, so showing it’s capable of a 4K stream is a big win in my eyes. I don’t know if Tubi plans on broadcasting more 4K streams in the future, but even 1080p is a big step up from the 720p norm. For a lot of stuff, especially the older movies that aren’t available elsewhere, lower quality is expected, but it’s weird watching something more modern at a lower resolution — even more so when that same movie was available somewhere else before.

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I don’t expect Tubi to be a live TV powerhouse

It’s a crowded field

Netflix

With services like Fubo, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and Sling, I don’t expect Tubi to suddenly become a competitor in a crowded field. Having special events like the Super Bowl, which likely came together as a result of being owned by Fox, is nice to see. Tubi isn’t likely to change its plans based on one night like this, but it’s nice to see it’s capable of being up to the task.

In an arms race with other services all looking to one-up each other, it’s sort of funny to see Tubi come out of nowhere and deliver the highest quality Super Bowl stream available. It’s like how Netflix was able to secure a Christmas day NFL game with a Beyoncé halftime show. That type of event is expected to come around often, so the service was able to go above and beyond knowing they don’t have to top themselves in the future. If events like this can continue in the future, whether it’s from Tubi, Netflix, or somebody else, I know I’ll be happy. I know going into the Super Bowl I never would’ve expected Tubi to deliver the way it did.