While the initial streaming boom was all about creating exclusivity, the last year or two have seen a shift back towards the idea of licensing titles out to other services. Outside of Disney and Netflix, most companies with streaming services have started sending their popular IP and/or exclusive releases to rival streamers or free streaming options. Tubi, a free ad-supported service, has been a big benefactor, getting all kinds of titles on its lineup that were previously only available on a single service.
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This month, Amazon’s Prime Video sent one of its biggest and best original movies to Tubi for a free streaming stint. The title in question is the 2020 comedic hit — and surprise Oscar contender — Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.
The sequel to 2006 smash hit mockumentary arrived in the fall of 2020 and was immediately recognized as a more-than-worthy successor nobody knew we needed. It also provided a breakout opportunity to Sacha Baron Cohen’s co-star, Maria Bakalova, who earned an Oscar nomination for her performance.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm was released as an original to Prime Video five years ago, but it is now available on a different service for the first time. You can find the film streaming on Tubi, making it free to watch if sit through a few ad-breaks.
Streaming Movies and Shows on Rival Services
There have been several streaming exclusive titles make their way to rivals and free services over the past couple of years, as companies try to mine profit from the format where they can. One of the most recent examples comes from Hulu, with the John Cena and Lil Rel Howery-starring Vacation Friends movies.
Both Vacation Friends and its sequel were released exclusively on Hulu, making that service the only place to watch them. However, the first film had a stint on Tubi earlier this year, and both are now streaming on Prime Video (in addition to Hulu, where they remain).
Services like Tubi have also created streaming homes for titles that companies have opted to stop hosting on their in-house services. Remember when HBO Max started cutting a lot of its animated titles — like Looney Tunes and Scooby-Doo — and some of its HBO library? A lot of those titles ended up over on Tubi. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, the classic cartoon that launched the entire franchise, is owned by Warner Bros., but Tubi is currently the only place to stream it.
Streaming has become something of a wild and unpredictable frontier, and it seems like shows and movies can just jump from service to service without any warning. That’s why, if you’re able, the best thing you can do is purchase physical copies of the movies and TV series that you love most. No matter what happens with a given streaming service, you’ll always keep access to something you enjoy watching.
