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Quibi

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Quibi
Type of businessPrivate
Type of site
OTT platform
FoundedAugust 2018 (2018-08)
DissolvedDecember 1, 2020 (2020-12-01)
Successor(s)The Roku Channel
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California, U.S.
Area servedUnited States
Canada
United Kingdom (limited)
Australia (limited)
Germany (limited)
Brazil (limited)
Founder(s)Jeffrey Katzenberg
Key peopleMeg Whitman (CEO)
LaunchedApril 6, 2020 (2020-04-06)
Current statusDefunct

Quibi (/ˈkwɪbi/ KWIB-ee) was an American short-form streaming platform that generated content for viewing on mobile devices. It was founded in Los Angeles in August 2018 as NewTV by Jeffrey Katzenberg and was led by Meg Whitman as CEO. The service raised $1.75 billion from investors.[1] It launched in April 2020, but shut down in December 2020 after falling short of its subscriber projections.[2][3][4] In January 2021, Quibi's content library was sold to Roku, Inc. for less than $100 million.[5][6][7] The platform's concepts and failure inspired widespread mockery.[1][8][9]

History

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Pre-launch

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Quibi was founded in August 2018 as NewTV by Jeffrey Katzenberg and was led by Meg Whitman as CEO.[10] In October 2018, NewTV was renamed Quibi.[11][12] The service targeted a younger demographic, with content delivered in 10-minute episodes called "quick bites" (with the name Quibi derived from "QUI-ck BI-tes").[13][14] In 2018, Quibi raised $1 billion in funding from major Hollywood film studios, TV companies, telecommunications companies, technology companies, banks, and other investors including The Walt Disney Company, 21st Century Fox, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures, WarnerMedia, Viacom, RTL Group, FremantleMedia, eOne, Lionsgate, MGM, Madrone Capital, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Alibaba Group, Liberty Global, and ITV.[15][16]

In 2019, Quibi announced it would launch in April 2020 with two pricing tiers. On July 8, 2019, BBC Studios announced it had invested in Quibi.[17][18] By late 2019, Quibi announced it had sold out its first-year advertising inventory, which amounted to $150 million.[19]

In 2020, Quibi presented at CES on its full launch plans including details on its content, technology, and partnerships.[20][21] In March 2020, Quibi announced a partnership with Canadian telecommunications company BCE, whereby its Bell Media division would produce Canadian news and sports content for the service (via CTV News and TSN respectively), and Bell Mobility would be Quibi's exclusive Canadian telecom marketing partner.[22]

Launch

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Quibi launched on April 6, 2020.[23] It was available in the United States and Canada.[24] An ad-free U.S. version of the app was made available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and Germany among others on April 6, 2020.[25][26][27] TechCrunch reported that Quibi saw 300,000 downloads and "hit No. 3 in the App Store" on its launch day.[28] On April 14, the company announced it had seen 1.7 million downloads of its app in its release week.[29][30] In the Google Play store, Quibi was the 11th-most-downloaded app as of April 16.[31]

Quibi's app fell out of the list of the 50 most-downloaded free iPhone apps in the United States a week after it was released. According to the analytics firm Sensor Tower, by early May the app was ranked 125th. Sensor Tower also said the app had been installed by 2.9 million customers, although Quibi said the figure was closer to 3.5 million. Of those who had installed the app, Quibi says 1.3 million were active users. Katzenberg acknowledged the performance was "not close to what we wanted," stating, "I attribute everything that has gone wrong to coronavirus"—a reference to the COVID-19 pandemic that was disrupting daily routines at the time of the launch.[32] Whitman was more positive in her assessment of the launch.[24]

Moves were made to adjust the service by allowing users to share content on social media platforms and to watch shows on televisions in addition to phones.[32] A feature was added to allow shows to be cast from phones onto TVs through AirPlay and Chromecast, with the screen orientation being set to landscape by default.[33] Quibi also developed its own screenshotting function.[34]

By early June, the company implemented voluntary executive pay cuts.[35] That same month, the service was on track for 2 million subscribers in its first year, far below its projected 7.4 million total.[36] From January to mid-June, Quibi raised an additional $750 million in funding.[14] In July 2020, Sensor Tower reported that about 8 percent of Quibi's early wave of users had converted into paying subscribers,[37] while the subscription analytics firm Antenna reported that 27% of "Quibi day 1, 90-day trial users converted their trials," though Quibi stated that these numbers were inaccurate.[38]

In early August, a free, ad-supported version of the service was released in Australia and New Zealand, and the price of the ad-free version was reduced.[39] According to reports in The Wall Street Journal and Recode in September 2020, the platform was looking for a potential acquirer with other possibilities, such as raising more funds, or becoming a public company by backing into a shell corporation. The report stated Quibi had $200 million in funds available.[40]

In October, Quibi was made available on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Google TV.[41]

Shutdown

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On October 21, 2020, just six months after Quibi's launch, The Wall Street Journal reported that the streaming service was shutting down.[2] Later, that same day, this news was confirmed by both Katzenberg and Whitman. Katzenberg told Deadline Hollywood, "There was no question that keeping us going was not going to have a different outcome, it was just going to spend a whole lot more money without any value to show for it. So, out of respect for these people that put up this extraordinary amount of capital to do it, that's irresponsible and we both felt we shouldn't do it." In the interview, Katzenberg also cited the unfortunate timing of the launch during the pandemic as a contributing factor.[3] At the time of the announcement, Quibi had approximately 500,000 subscribers.[42]

The announcement of the shutdown left the fate of existing, upcoming, and planned original programming in "development hell",[43] as Quibi does not own the rights to any of their programming, since their deals with the creators of their original programming allowed them to retain the copyright to their content and distribute it in traditional forms after a few years.[44] The next day, on October 22, it was announced that Quibi would officially shut down "on or around" December 1.[45][46]

Fate of the library

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On January 3, 2021, it was announced that Roku was in advanced talks to acquire rights to Quibi's library.[47] On January 8, 2021, Roku officially announced that all of Quibi's 75 programs would be streamed on their platform, The Roku Channel.[6][7] Roku acquired the content from Quibi for an amount less than $100 million, with the condition that the content would remain in their short-form format.[5] The shows would be rebranded as "Roku Originals",[48] with 30 of them relaunched on the service on May 20, 2021.[49]

Content

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Main article: List of Quibi original programming

Quibi spent over $1 billion on commissioning original content in its first year, totalling 8,500[50] short-form episodes and including over 175 shows.[51] Unlike many streaming video platforms, Quibi's content was made specifically for mobile devices and could be viewed in either a traditional 16:9 horizontal aspect ratio, or a 9:16 vertical frame (with the user able to shift between them in the same video). Instead of half-hour TV episodes or two-hour films, content on Quibi was delivered in episodes of 10 minutes or less.[52][53]

Quibi commissioned significant news programming in addition to its entertainment line-up, but it found the news shows attracted minimal interest.[32]

In July 2020, Quibi was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards across three categories: Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, and Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.[54] Its series, #FreeRayshawn, won two Emmy Awards on September 20, 2020.[55]

Reed Duchscher, manager of YouTuber MrBeast, said his company Night Media had attempted to bring MrBeast's content to the platform, but Quibi rejected the proposal.[56][57][58][unreliable source?] Additionally, Rad Sechrist, creator of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, said that he and his production team talked to Quibi, but that they passed on the series.[59][unreliable source?]

Reception

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Reactions to Quibi were mixed. While most of the service's original programming received positive reviews, the service itself was criticized for its paid, mobile-only focus that limited its accessibility and reach compared to established, free services, such as YouTube and TikTok.[60][61] In a November 2020 article for the Wall Street Journal, other reasons suggested for the service's shutdown include a misjudgment on which programming and technology features would appeal to young consumers, and a high spend on advertising.[1] The platform's flawed concepts and rapid failure inspired widespread mockery (for example, an extended gag referencing its downfall in the pilot episode of the sitcom Royal Crackers).[1][8][9]

[edit]

Quibi filed a lawsuit against interactive video developer Eko on March 9, 2020[62][63] seeking a declaration that Quibi did not infringe on Eko's patented technology, as well as an order that Eko withdraw a complaint filed with Apple's App Store and unspecified monetary damages.[64] Quibi pre-emptively filed its lawsuit, Quibi Holdings, LLC v. Interlude US, Inc. (d/b/a Eko),[65] in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Eko filed its own separate but related countersuit, JBF Interlude 2009 Ltd – Israel v. Quibi Holdings, LLC,[66] a day later, alleging that Quibi stole proprietary technology after Eko demonstrated it to Quibi's employees, including Katzenberg.[67]

On May 3, 2020, Elliott Management announced that it would fund Eko's lawsuit in exchange for equity in the company.[68]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Benjamin Mullin; Lillian Rizzo (November 2, 2020). "Quibi Was Supposed to Revolutionize Hollywood. Here's Why It Failed". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved November 3, 2020. Investors who poured $1.75 billion into this idea did so largely because they trusted the gut instincts and vision of Mr. Katzenberg
  2. ^ a b Mullin, Benjamin; Flint, Joe; Farrell, Maureen (October 21, 2020). "Quibi Is Shutting Down as Problems Mount". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Patten, Dominic (October 21, 2020). "Quibi's Jeffrey Katzenberg & Meg Whitman Detail "Clear-Eyed" Decision To Shut It Down & What's Next". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  4. ^ Alexander, Julia (October 22, 2020). "Quibi will shut down 'on or around' December 1st". The Verge. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Mullin, Benjamin (January 8, 2021). "Roku Acquires Rights to Quibi's Content". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on August 21, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Porter, Jon (January 8, 2021). "Quibi's library will live on through the Roku Channel". The Verge. Archived from the original on September 11, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Spangler, Todd (January 8, 2021). "Roku Acquires Global Rights to 75-Plus Quibi Shows, Will Stream Them for Free". Variety. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Rao, Sonia (July 7, 2020). "The brief life cycle of Quibi, from promising start to industry laughingstock". Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Mangalindan, JP (November 11, 2020). "Quibi Leaders' $1.7 Billion Failure Is a Story of Self-Sabotage". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on April 11, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  10. ^ Lee, Wendy (December 5, 2018). "Quibi aims to launch 5,000 'quick bite' videos when it debuts". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 17, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  11. ^ "Jeffrey Katzenberg's Shortform Video Venture Gets New Name, Lines Up Projects From Guillermo del Toro, Antoine Fuqua". The Hollywood Reporter. October 10, 2018. Archived from the original on July 8, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  12. ^ Chmielewski, Dawn C. (October 10, 2018). "Jeffrey Katzenberg And Meg Whitman Unveil Name Of NewTV: Quibi (Short For Quick Bites)". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
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  14. ^ a b Mullin, Benjamin (June 14, 2020). "Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman Struggle With Their Startup—and Each Other". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
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  22. ^ Malik, Aisha (March 5, 2020). "Bell exclusively partners with Quibi to provide daily news, sports content for the streaming service". MobileSyrup.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
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  29. ^ Richwine, Lisa (April 14, 2020). "Short-format streaming service Quibi reports 1.7 million downloads in its first week". Platform Executive. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
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  33. ^ Roettgers, Janko (May 28, 2020). "Quibi placed a Hollywood-style bet but is now 'iterating' like Silicon Valley". Protocol. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  34. ^ Mariella, Moon (July 24, 2020). "Quibi will let you screenshot its shows". Engadget. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
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  37. ^ Statt, Nick (July 8, 2020). "Quibi reportedly lost 90 percent of early users after their free trials expired". The Verge. Archived from the original on July 9, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  38. ^ @AntennaData (July 20, 2020). "Our data showed that 27% of Quibi day 1, 90-day trial users converted their free trials. To further validate this finding, we looked at the subsequent 14-day free trials, and found the number was 30%" (Tweet). Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Twitter.
  39. ^ Patel, Sahil (August 5, 2020). "Quibi Tests a Free Version in Australia and New Zealand". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on August 25, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  40. ^ Kafka, Peter (September 21, 2020). "After 6 months and $1.8 billion, Quibi wants a new owner. That will be a hard sell". Recode. Vox. Archived from the original on September 22, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  41. ^ Spangler, Todd (October 21, 2020). "Quibi Lands on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Google TV — but It's Probably Too Little, Too Late". Variety. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  42. ^ "A look at why Quibi failed so soon after launching". NBC News. October 22, 2020. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  43. ^ Steinberg, Brian; Thorne, Will (October 21, 2020). "Quibi's Demise Spurs Hand-Wringing for TV Partners". Variety. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  44. ^ Sperling, Nicole (April 5, 2020). "Two Veteran C.E.O.s Risk $1.8 Billion on a Streaming App. In a Pandemic". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020. Mr. Katzenberg and Ms. Whitman had an easy time making deals partly because of the terms they offer: The company pays for production costs and licensing rights, allowing the creators of Quibi programs to retain copyright, meaning they can sell their work to another platform or network after a set number of years.
  45. ^ Baysinger, Tim (October 22, 2020). "Quibi to Pull the Plug on Dec 1". TheWrap. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  46. ^ Spangler, Todd (December 1, 2020). "Quibi Is Officially Dead". Variety. Archived from the original on February 19, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  47. ^ Sharma, Amol (January 3, 2021). "Roku Nears Deal to Buy Rights to Quibi's Content". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on January 4, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  48. ^ Keck, Catie (April 21, 2021). "Roku Wisely Rebrands Its Soon-to-Debut Quibi Content as 'Roku Originals'". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on July 16, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  49. ^ Spangler, Todd (May 13, 2021). "Roku Set to Release 30 Quibi Shows for Free". Variety. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  50. ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (March 6, 2020). "Quibi Is Coming. Here Are the Famous People Making Shows for It". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  51. ^ Spangler, Todd (June 19, 2019). "Quibi Has Already Booked $100 Million in Ad Sales, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman Say". Variety. Archived from the original on June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  52. ^ Patel, Sahil (June 5, 2019). "Mobile-only: Quibi will be exclusively mobile, dropping early plans for TV apps". Digiday. Archived from the original on June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  53. ^ VanArendonk, Kathryn (April 24, 2020). "Yep, Quibi Is Bad". Vulture. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  54. ^ Pond, Steve (August 20, 2020). "How Quibi Overcame a Rocky Start to Dominate Emmy Nominations in Short-Form Categories". The Wrap. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  55. ^ "#FreeRayshawn Awards & Nominations". Emmys.com. September 20, 2020. Archived from the original on October 14, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  56. ^ Pierce, Tanner (October 22, 2020). "Mr Beast was turned down by Quibi before app went bust". Dexerto. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  57. ^ Gahan, Brendan (October 22, 2020) [Originally published Jun 26, 2020]. "What Can Marketers Learn From Quibi's Failure?". Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on September 26, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  58. ^ Robbins, Blake (September 21, 2020). "I still can't believe @Quibi turned down trying to do a deal with @MrBeastYT. (@reedjd_ is MrBeast's manager)". Twitter. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020. Acknowledged in a reply by MrBeast: MrBeast (September 21, 2020). "If they would have gave me a few million bucks I easily could have broken the internet a few times lol". Twitter. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020.
  59. ^ Sechrist, Rad [@radsechrist] (October 22, 2020). "We even talked to Quibi and they passed" (Tweet). Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020 – via Twitter.
  60. ^ "Quibi: The Fatal Miscalculation That Doomed Katzenberg And Whitman's Streamer". Forbes. June 15, 2020. Archived from the original on July 16, 2022. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  61. ^ "They built it, but people did not come: the cautionary tale of Quibi". The Guardian. October 23, 2020. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  62. ^ Yasiejko, Christopher (March 9, 2020). "Quibi Sues to Block Patent-Infringement Suits Over 'Turnstyle'". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  63. ^ Alexander, Julia (March 11, 2020). "Quibi is already locked in a legal battle over its rotating video tech". The Verge. Archived from the original on March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  64. ^ Hipes, Patrick; Patten, Dominic (March 9, 2020). "Quibi Fighting With Eko Over "Turnstyle" Tech Ahead Of Mobile Site's April Launch". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 10, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  65. ^ "Complaint, Quibi Holdings, LLC v. Interlude US, Inc. (2:20-cv-02250)" (PDF). Court Listener. March 9, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 8, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  66. ^ "JBF Interlude 2009 Ltd - Israel v. Quibi Holdings, LLC (2:20-cv-02299)". Court Listener. Archived from the original on July 16, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  67. ^ Spangler, Todd (March 10, 2020). "Quibi Sued by Eko for Patent Infringement, Theft of Trade Secrets". Variety. Archived from the original on May 26, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  68. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (May 3, 2020). "Stakes Jump In Quibi Legal Fight As Ellliott Management Finances Eko Lawuit Against Jeffrey Katzenberg-Founded Streamer – Report". Deadline. Archived from the original on May 4, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
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