Fox just got into the streaming game in a big way. The company has made a deal to purchase Tubi, the ad-supported movie and TV streaming service, for $440 million. This is a cash deal, meaning that Fox is paying cold hard folding money to get itself into the streaming wars. Meanwhile, the company also sold the 5 percent stake it held in Roku, another streaming provider, which helped to fund the Tubi deal.

The Fox Corporation changed dramatically last year after the company formerly known as 21st Century Fox sold the majority of its media assets to Disney in a landmark $71.3 billion deal. What's left of Fox now consists of Fox Broadcasting, local TV stations, Fox News, Fox Business and Fox Sports. This will provide the company with an arm in the rapidly growing internet-driven content game. Fox Corp. executive chairman and CEO Lachlan Murdoch had this to say in a statement.

"Tubi will immediately expand our direct-to-consumer audience and capabilities and will provide our advertising partners with more opportunities to reach audiences at scale. Importantly, coupled with the combined power of Fox's existing networks, Tubi provides a substantial base from which we will drive long-term growth in the direct-to-consumer arena."

Tubi is an ad-supported streaming platform that largely plays host to older movies and TV shows, which are available to stream for free. This is key, as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, in addition to upcoming services such as HBO Max and NBC's Peacock, amongst others, all cost money. Though, Peacock will have a free option. Fox intends to allow Tubi to operate as an independent service, with founder and CEO Farhad Massoudi staying on board. Massoudi had this to say in a statement.

"Fox Corporation's relationships with advertisers and distribution partners, combined with the company's dominance in news and sports programming, will help Tubi continue to grow and differentiate itself in the high-growth ad-supported streaming marketplace."

This is just the latest in a series of moves made by big media companies to get into the ad-supported streaming game. ViacomCBS purchased Pluto TV, a live TV service, for $340 million in cash last year, while Comcast bought Xumo, another free streaming service for more than $100 million. The business model for these companies is to bolster ad revenue, as opposed to driving up subscriptions through original content.

Tubi originally launched as AdRise in 2010 and pivoted to become Tubi TV in 2014, eventually simplifying to Tubi. The service has content partners including Paramount, Lionsgate, MGM and Starz, amongst many others. They play host to more than 20,000 titles and boast a user base of 25 million active monthly users. The good news, for those who already use Tubi, is that Fox doesn't intend to change things, as this seems to be a situation where, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Still, it does serve as yet another major shake-up in the increasingly crazy media world where streaming is, unquestionably, the way of the future. This news was previously reported by Variety.