The streaming landscape is undergoing a quiet revolution. As subscriber fatigue grows and ad-supported platforms fight for every view, major services are increasingly turning to social media creators — not just for marketing, but as full-fledged content producers. Leading this charge is Tubi, Fox’s free ad-supported streaming service (FAST), which has just announced a major new initiative aimed squarely at TikTok talent.
On March 19, 2026, Tubi unveiled the Creatorverse Incubator in partnership with TikTok. The program is explicitly designed to help successful short-form creators develop original long-form shows exclusively for Tubi. Participants will receive development support, promotional muscle, potential funding, and — crucially — near-complete creative freedom. They can create scripted series, unscripted reality shows, or anything in between.
“Tubi is doubling down on giving creators a real bridge from digital platforms to premium long-form storytelling,” said Rich Bloom, General Manager of Creator Programs and Executive Vice President of Business Development at Tubi. “TikTok has become one of the most powerful engines for discovering creative voices and building passionate communities at scale.”
Dawn Yang, Global Head of Entertainment Partnerships at TikTok, echoed the sentiment: “Our creators have built deeply engaged audiences on TikTok, and our partnership with Tubi will give the next generation of entertainers more opportunities to expand their audiences, tell bigger stories, and turn their creativity into lasting impact.”
The first cohort of selected creators will be announced this summer. Tubi will handle production and distribution, while TikTok will identify talent and use its Spotlight feature to drive fan conversation and discovery directly to the new shows.
Tubi’s Creator Strategy Is Already Delivering Results
This isn’t a one-off experiment. Tubi has been systematically building its creator ecosystem for over a year. In 2025, the platform launched “Tubi for Creators,” onboarding popular YouTube talent including Mythical Entertainment (Rhett & Link), Watcher, Jubilee, Kinigra Deon, and others. It has also experimented with creator crowdfunding projects and programs for emerging directors.
The payoff has been dramatic. In the last 10 months alone, Tubi has added more than 16,000 episodes from over 200 creators to its library. A recent highlight: Kelon Campbell’s “Terri Joe: Missionary in Miami,” which brought viral TikTok characters to the screen, landed on Variety’s Streaming Original Movies Chart, and earned strong reviews from Gen Z audiences.
The business metrics tell the real story. Tubi surpassed 100 million monthly active users (MAU) in May 2025 and achieved profitability earlier than expected. Its viewing share grew sharply — from 2.2% of total TV viewing in mid-2025 to 6.2% of ad-supported streaming viewing later in the year — while revenue jumped 27% in one quarter amid an 18% increase in total viewing time.
By tapping into creators’ pre-existing fanbases, Tubi isn’t just filling its catalog — it’s importing ready-made audiences who are younger, more engaged, and far more tolerant of ads than traditional linear or subscription viewers.
Peacock Tried It First — But Tubi Is Scaling Faster
Tubi isn’t the only streamer chasing TikTok stars. NBCUniversal’s Peacock ran a similar Creator Accelerator program starting in 2022–2023, training influencers in long-form storytelling and production. By 2025, several participants had graduated to full original series, including “The Warehouse Phase,” “The Kouncil,” “Older Hotter Wiser,” and “People Like Me.”
While Peacock’s effort produced some interesting projects, it hasn’t generated the same level of industry buzz or measurable audience growth as Tubi’s initiatives.
Larger subscription giants like Netflix, Disney+, and others are also courting creators — but usually in a more limited way. They tend to use TikTok and YouTube stars for marketing campaigns, vertical short-form experiments, or as talent in existing franchises rather than handing them the keys to their own shows. Tubi’s approach is bolder: treating creators as a core production engine rather than just promotional tools.
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Why This Strategy Works — And Why It’s Accelerating
The math is simple. Creators bring three things traditional Hollywood struggles to deliver: authentic voices, built-in audiences, and speed. Their content is cheaper to produce, resonates with younger demographics, and converts fans directly into viewers (and ad impressions) on the platform.
For Tubi, a free service that thrives on volume and engagement, this model is particularly powerful. The platform doesn’t need to chase subscribers — it needs eyeballs. And creators deliver them by the millions.
As the first Creatorverse Incubator participants are revealed this summer, the industry will be watching closely. If the program succeeds — and early indicators suggest it will — it could mark a broader shift: the next era of streaming won’t be defined by billion-dollar franchises alone, but by internet-native creators who scale their audiences from phones to living-room TVs.
The hunt for creators is no longer a side quest. It’s becoming the main strategy. And Tubi just raised the stakes.
