What is Quibi? No, Really? (1 Viewer)

[Todd Erwin]

Quibi, yet another streaming service, launched on April 6, 2020 on both Android and iOS mobile platforms, achieving 1.7 million downloads of its app during the first week. That’s pretty impressive for a new service with no brand recognition and programming no one has ever seen. There are two things that likely contributed to Quibi’s record-breaking launch – A 90-day free trial for initial subscribers and a large population of users home under self-isolation or quarantine due to COVID-19. As of April 17, 2020 (eleven days after launching), the number of app downloads had dwindled to a trickle, currently placing 82nd on Apple’s app store yet was 15th on Google Play according to App Annie. Why the sudden drop in app downloads, and just what is Quibi anyway?
Quibi (short for “quick bites”) is the brainchild of Jeffrey Katzenberg, former CEO of DreamWorks Animation, one of the founding partners of DreamWorks SKG (aka DreamWorks Pictures), and former production executive at both Walt...

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[DaveF]

Is Anyone Watching Quibi?

The streaming platform raised $1.75 billion and secured a roster of A-list talent, but it can’t get audiences to notice.

www.vulture.com

 

[Scott Merryfield]

 

[Cranston37+]

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Quibi is reportedly shutting down

Quibi keeps it short in every sense of the word.

www.engadget.com

 

[Lord Dalek]

Quibi? We hardly knew ye.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Quibi is reportedly shutting down

Quibi keeps it short in every sense of the word.

www.engadget.com

I saw that The Verge reported that, too. Funny thing is, this was quite literally hours after apps for Fire, Apple, and Android TV were released for the service.

 

[JackieT]

Shocking. Said nobody.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Quibi confirms it's shutting down

Open just six months, Quibi is closing down.

www.engadget.com

 

[Lord Dalek]

Quibye Felicia.

 

[Reed Grele]

Good thing I didn't sign up for the free 6 month membership that was offered in my T-Mobile Tuesdays app.... I guess?

 

[JackieT]

Good thing I didn't sign up for the free 6 month membership that was offered in my T-Mobile Tuesdays app.... I guess?

TMobile offered it for free, at least with our Magenta plan. I never activated it though.

 

[Ejanss]

Quibi was the final, and most expensive, doubling-down on the two fatally goofiest industry myths about Digital VOD and streaming:

1) "Those kids want something to watch on their smartphones, because they want to take their TV with them!" (Said the execs that don't know why MP3 music replaced CD, and tried to sweep all digital entertainment with the same brush)
and
2) "The popularity of YouTube proves that Millennials have short attention spans and want more condensed bites of entertainment on the go!" (The moment you try to sell fans anything on YouTube that they didn't make themselves, you've already lost. YouTube already found that out with YouTube Red.)

And if anyone deserved to take the fall for that, it so, so, SO deserved to be a post-Dreamworks Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Now they can carve this on his tombstone, instead of pretending we still like the Shrek and Kung Fu Panda movies.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

I was turned off by the service because of its support for portrait mode.

 

[Wayne_j]

Anyone know what is happening to their content? Will it show up on other services?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Anyone know what is happening to their content? Will it show up on other services?

I think one of the industry trades covering this stated that they’re looking for a buyer for the assets but so far no takers. Apparently they don’t own the content. They paid studios to make the content and for two years of exclusivity, after which time the studio was free to release it through other services and distribution models. So in theory, either someone will buy up the remaining time that Quibi has the assets exclusively, or they’ll revert back to the studios ahead of schedule.

 

[Wayne_j]

OK, they have shows I wanted to see but my lack of a smart phone didn't allow me to see them.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Anyone know what is happening to their content? Will it show up on other services?

My understanding is they own very little of the content that was on their platform. I'm assuming the actual owners of the content will look for other platforms for their content. I have a free subscription through T-Mobile. I guess I will be binge watching the few series that interested me over the next few days: Princess Bride, Dummy, Die Hart and Flipped

 

[Todd Erwin]

My understanding is they own very little of the content that was on their platform. I'm assuming the actual owners of the content will look for other platforms for their content. I have a free subscription through T-Mobile. I guess I will be binge watching the few series that interested me over the next few days: Princess Bride, Dummy, Die Hart and Flipped

At least now you can binge them on the big screen!