Fox Corp. on Wednesday announced the formation of a new standalone digital business unit, Tubi Media Group, which will house the Tubi ad-supported streaming platform, as well as Credible and Blockchain Creative Labs, among other Fox digital sports, news and entertainment businesses.
Paul Cheesbrough, previously CTO and head of digital for Fox, will become CEO of the Tubi Media Group.
Meanwhile, Farhad Massoudi, the Tubi founder who came aboard Fox when it paid $440 million for his AVOD streaming startup in 2020, will step down at the end of June.
"It has been an incredible three years since the acquisition of Tubi, leading to its great success within the Fox family," said Massoudi in a statement. "I am grateful to both Lachlan and Paul for their guidance, support and partnership. I know that I am leaving Tubi in the best shape it has ever been, and its future is very bright.”
Fox said it is currently looking for a new chief executive for the Tubi streaming platform.
"Our strategic acquisition of Tubi in 2020 established a cornerstone in our digital streaming strategy, which under Paul and Farhad’s leadership has driven record growth and is now the clear market leader in AVOD in the US,” said Lachlan Murdoch, executive chair and CEO of Fox.
“Building off this momentum, and complementing the strong growth being driven in our company wide digital revenues, now is the right time to bring these efforts together into a new business unit which will be tasked with spearheading our digital expansion and partnering with our brands to drive continued growth," Murdoch noted.
Added Cheesbrough: “I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Farhad for his partnership over the past few years. He’s a true pioneer in the streaming space and saw the opportunity in AVOD long before others. The fact that we’re building this new business around Tubi’s brand and the momentum that the company has achieved is testament to everything that Farhad founded, built and delivered over the years.”
