The Quibi founders are officially shutting down the streaming service. Helmed by Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, Quibi became the talk of the town when the short-form streaming service launched in April of this year. True to its name, Quibi (which is short for “quick bites”) is designed for mobile viewing, with episodes of its original series clocking in at 10 minutes or less.
With shorter episodes than most streaming services put out, Quibi’s catalog of original shows was meant to “fit perfectly into any moment of your day,” with the platform available at a reasonable rate of $4.99 per month with ads (or $7.99 without ads). However, Quibi has experienced a string of disappointing months following its debut and the company witnessed a series of layoffs back in June. Last month, it was reported that Katzenberg and Whitman were exploring the option of selling Quibi just six months after the platform's launch. Quibi - which has 1.6 million subscribers - also considered merging with a special acquisition company after missing its original target of 7.4 million subscribers. Now it appears the company will shutter its doors for good.
Per The Wrap, Katenberg has confirmed that Quibi is officially shutting down after only 7 months, and the platform will begin to sell off its content and assets. Citing the coronavirus pandemic as the culprit for the low subscriber count, Katenberg and Whitman revealed the service failed to gain major traction and that it was difficult to remain a contender in the streaming service wars. Katzenberg expressed his gratitude to the creative forces behind Quibi and released this statement:
"Quibi was founded to create the next generation of storytelling. We have assembled a world-class creative and engineering team that has created an original platform fueled by groundbreaking technology and IP, enabling consumers to view premium content in a whole new way. The world has changed dramatically since Quibi launched and our standalone business model is no longer viable. I am deeply grateful to our employees, investors, talent, studio partners and advertisers for their partnership in bringing Quibi to millions of mobile devices."
Furthermore, Katzenberg and Whitman have stated that they continue to believe in the content Quibi produced and expressed their hope that the shows will resume on someone else's platform, moving forward. As it stands, Quibi will continue to navigate hurdles as the company is currently engaged in a patent lawsuit with video technology firm Eko. The lawsuit, filed earlier this year, claims that Eko should get credit for the company’s video-streaming technology that allows viewers of cell phone video to switch between landscape and portrait mode.
Since its launch, Quibi has offered a vast range of original content, featuring talent that includes Zac Efron, Reese Witherspoon, Chrissy Teigen, Sophie Turner, Liam Hemsworth, Chance the Rapper, and more. But unfortunately for the streamer, its selection was limited to mobile-only when it launched during quarantine, and many viewers were frustrated by their inability to watch Quibi’s shows on their TVs. Now, it remains to be seen what will become of the stack of original goods Quibi once offered now that the short-form streaming service is shutting down.
Source: The Wrap