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Three platforms. Three completely different bets on what America watches for free.
Looper Insights tracked every placement, every platform across the US free streaming landscape from January to May 2026. Here is what the shelf data reveals about how Tubi, The Roku Channel and Pluto TV are each playing a very different game.
Powered by Looper Insights FAST Analytics · USA · Jan to May 2026
Three platforms. Three strategies.
Select a platform to open its shelf.
Who led the free TV shelf each month?
Total $MPV™ by platform, January to May 2026
Note: The Roku Channel figures reflect promotion across Roku-owned devices, where the platform benefits from native shelf prominence. This is a structural advantage not available to platform-agnostic services.
Same title. Different shelf. Very different value.
When the same content appears on multiple platforms, placement strategy determines the outcome, not just the title.
Where your content sits on the shelf matters as much as being there at all. This is what $MPV™ measures.
The numbers, side by side
Jan to May 2026 · USA free streaming
- Total $MPV™
- $717M
- Promotional Spots
- 82,857
- $MPV™ per Spot
- $8,653
- Platforms Tracked
- 15 platforms
- Share of Free TV $MPV™
- 38%
- Total $MPV™
- $690M
- Promotional Spots
- 40,394
- $MPV™ per Spot
- $17,090
- Platforms Tracked
- 10 platforms
- Share of Free TV $MPV™
- 36.5%
- Total $MPV™
- $482M
- Promotional Spots
- 50,035
- $MPV™ per Spot
- $9,625
- Platforms Tracked
- 15 platforms
- Share of Free TV $MPV™
- 25.5%
The Roku Channel generates nearly 2x the placement value per promotional spot compared to Tubi, with half the number of promotions.
Want to know how your content is performing across the streaming shelf?
Looper Insights tracks content promotion across 600+ platforms and 120 countries: FAST, AVOD, SVOD and beyond. If you work in content strategy, streaming or rights, this data is built for you.