Deadline has learned that Katzenberg and CEO Whitman are about to have a call with investors this afternoon to explain their decision to wind down the short-form video service after little more than six months. They are exploring options including selling content or the entire service in the hopes that a buyer emerges.
The startup spent lavishly on promotion, buying multiple TV ad slots on the Super Bowl and the Oscars last February on the heels of a splashy presentation in Las Vegas at CES. After a pullback in the spring, the company revved up the marketing engines again over the summer, buying more TV and digital spots, with more of a focus on individual shows than on introducing customers to the platform. According to ad tracking firm iSpot, the company spent $63.7 million on TV in 2020.
Among other unresolved issues, Quibi is still partially embroiled in crossfire legal action with Eko, the Elliot Management-backed interactive video company, over potential patient infringement over its Turnstyle interface. Kicked off by initial filings by Quibi in late March, the case is understood not to have played a role in the company’s decision to pull the plug.
“Quibi was based on a sound premise,” Leichtman said. But its “challenge in building an active subscriber base goes well beyond the fact that it was designed specifically for mobile phone viewing at a time when people were spending much more time at home.
Will it be a bad form to gloat now ?
And I thought US$3 million on a singapore esports publication that lasted 9 months was a bad investment...
We can’t raise taxes though, because rich people are just SO GOOD at allocating money!
How do you go through $2B in 6 months? Who handed these morons money because I have some proposals.
Already?
Thank God
I’m going to miss Quibi. They gave us three free months because of Covid. 😔
Are there shows going to another network? They looked really interesting
10 minute episodes of things originally meant for more than 10 minute time slots was a bad idea. Plus the limited access (how long did it take to be viewable on TV, and even then support was extremely lackluster)
There's just too many subscriptions these days. We need someone to bundle all of these together and offer them in one package.
Where’s the money?
Bad content
Was this the exciting announcement about the moon
lmao
drmistercody yooo
Julian_Schubach Who didn't know that.
Experiment?!? Is that what we are calling it now?
And now, the appropriate swan song:
alexzaragozaa lol uh oh
It might have worked with better programming and content
i liked it
awwww
No one thought this was a good idea.
cdotharrison No one wants to watch shows only on their phones. Terrible idea!
It was another subscription service that they were asking people to pay for at a time when people didn’t necessarily have the extra money for something new. And something new with all original content that just didn’t seem to grab people.
That was quick.
Watch them blame everyone and everything except for themselves and this horrible idea.
Wish ComedyCentral would pick up Reno911, but they’re too busy airing TheOffice reruns 24/7. Quibi
hey, sometimes ya blow $2B. none of us saw this coming
What happens with Reno 911? That was already renewed for another season and now just over? hulu grab Reno 911 please!
K
I have nothing but respect for Katzenberg and co, but the whole idea behind the company — young people all have ADHD & only want short content — was ageist. And false. We’ll spend hours on Fortnite, Netflix, TikTok, etc. If we love it, we’re married to it. So who was Quibi for?
Is anyone surprised? I got free trial to watch 'Royalties'. Canceled once it finished airing.
They are right to call this an experiment. That's not how we enjoying watching TV lol.
Considering they pushed so hard to make their name synonymous with 'a few minutes' in their commercials when nobody knew/cared about them, it's no surprise
brianne2k hope this is on PopChat this week. Because I want to see the banter on why everyone saw this coming 😅
Surprised it lasted this long.
What is a Quibi?
I actually liked it. Now the question is who is going to buy the content? Because there are some pretty decent shows which could actually be movies when you piece together the fifteen 6-8 minute episodes.
You mean getting people to pay for mobisodes went over about as well as it went over in 2007?
Nice to have money where you can throw away after just 6 months.
JunaeBrown I never truly understood its purpose
I'm not surprised at all. I did sign up for the free trial, watched a couple things, was thoroughly unimpressed, and deleted the app after a few days. Interesting experiment, but totally doomed to fail.
Geektown
I will keep saying this it was a terrible idea from the start. However I think Disney should buy all the content & either put it on Hulu or Disney Plus
Deadline has learned that Katzenberg and Whitman are about to have a call with investors this afternoon to explain their decision to wind down Quibi after little more than six months
NathanZed 👀
Most businesses fail in their first year...how long was this running, like 6 weeks?
Whitman? Then...who cares.
They had a good run!
I'm sad. I loved it. ...said no one about Quibi.
cdotharrison You can say it lasted....a quibi.
They tried 🤷🏻♀️
Quibi was the answer to a question no one asked.
Didn't this just start? Like yesterday?
Lol
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