Roku has officially acquired Quibi's movie and TV shows. Dreamworks Pictures co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman raised nearly $2 billion in funding before launching their short-form streaming service back in April 2020. Designed for mobile viewing, the app made up of "quick bite" content had a rough start, however, failing to generate buzz and find an audience. It was announced in October that Quibi was officially shutting down, just six months after its launch. As of December 1, the streaming service Quibi was no longer available. Though the company's website is still up, users are unable to stream any content.
Quibi originals, which consist of 10 minutes (or less) episodes, feature shows like Sophie Turner's Survive and Chance the Rapper's Punk'd reboot, along with content from other stars like Anna Kendrick, Zac Efron, Kevin Hart, Nicole Richie, Chrissy Teigen, Liam Hemsworth and more. Ahead of the app's shutdown, Katzenberg previously tried to get Facebook, NBCUniversal, and other companies to buy the programming rights to Quibi's content. Earlier this week, Roku was reportedly nearing a deal to buy the rights to all of Quibi's content, which would give Roku Channel exclusive access to Quibi's whole library of original content. Now Roku and Quibi have officially struck a deal.
Roku announced Friday that they have acquired the rights to Quibi's content library, which includes over 75 short-form shows and documentaries. The deal will send all of Quibi's content to stream on Roku's free, ad-supported Roku Channel, which launched in 2017. Also included is more than a dozen shows that were completed but not released on Quibi prior to its shutdown but will now be made available for viewers on the Roku Channel. "The most creative and imaginative minds in Hollywood created groundbreaking content for Quibi that exceeded our expectations," said Katzenberg. "We are thrilled that these stories, from the surreal to the sublime, have found a new home on The Roku Channel."
The financial terms of the deal have not yet been reported, but the announcement explains that Roku acquired Quibi Holdings, LLC, which is the company that holds all of Quibi’s content distribution rights. The deal was teased earlier today by both Roku and Quibi's Twitter accounts with a summoning circle joke. See the tweet in the space above.
Roku's app, the Roku Channel, offers other companies' movies and TV shows, but the deal with Quibi gives Roku a library of exclusive content. One of the biggest disappointments for many of Quibi's viewers was that its content was only available on mobile. Now it may be better reached when it's offered on the popular streaming media devices. Though jokes are often made at Quibi's expense for its lack of success, the streamer also carried award-winning content that should still be given another chance. Viewers also don't need a Roku device to access the Roku Channel, so they can download the Roku Channel app for free if they still choose to watch Quibi content on mobile.
Source: Roku