Q. A friend of mine cut the cord and he says he watches Tubi instead. He says it’s free and has all the shows and movies you could ever want. I’m a senior citizen and I don’t understand these things all too well. What is this Tubi and is it free? If you don’t have to pay, is it legal? Could I cut the cord and just watch Tubi? — Cheryl, Charlotte, North Carolina. 

Cheryl, Tubi, which is owned by Fox, is a streaming service available on your computer, mobile phone or streaming device, such as Roku, Fire TV and Apple TV, among many others. The lineup consists of thousands of TV shows and movies from studios such as Fox, Lionsgate, Paramount, MGM and Warner Bros.

And, yes, it’s free and legal.

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Tubi is able to offer the programming for free by inserting ads before and during the programs. The in-program ads usually run every 15 minutes or so, much like how commercials are placed during shows on networks such as CBS, Fox, NBC and ABC. The ads breaks are one to two minutes in length on average.

The titles do not include any original programming, such as you would see on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime. You also won’t find many recent movie releases or TV shows. Bu there is a vast catalog of films and shows in all genres, including drama, comedy, documentary, western and horror.

The lineup is dominated by titles which are several years ago, and frankly, not in high demand. But you will find some gems such as American Hustle, Concussion, King of New York, 12 Angry Men, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stagecoach, Marty, Charade, and The Imitation Game.

Tubi also recently added 80 24-hour live news feeds from local TV stations owned by Tegna, Scripps, Hearst and Cox Media in markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia. The service previously carried 17 local Fox news feeds, News 12 New York, Bloomberg TV, Cheddar, NBC News Now and the Fubo Sports Network.

So if you like free movies, and handy news updates — with some ads sprinkled in — Tubi could be your new home after you cut the cord. You can learn more about Tubi here.

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— Phillip Swann
@swanniontv