- Quibi, the streaming service that launched earlier this year, is reportedly being shut down.
- The service was intended to appeal to a younger audience with its mobile-centric business model.
- However, the service lagged in the number of its paid subscribers.
It looks like the lights are out for Quibi. The streaming service, which started in mid-April 2020, is said to have ceased operations. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on this development.
Quibi recently hired a restructuring firm that reportedly offered a range of options for the failed service. One of those options was a complete shutdown, and that’s what Quibi co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg seems to have decided, according to the story. He reportedly called investors to give them the news.
The other Katzenberg and Quibi co-founder and CEO Meg Whitman raised $ 1.75 billion to fund the streaming service. What makes Quibi unique is that it is mobile-focused and only available for Android and iOS. Quibi shows are no longer than ten minutes. The theory was that people on the go could watch these short sections of a series during breaks at work.
However, the service, which was $ 4.99 per month with ads and $ 7.99 per month without ads, launched just weeks after the coronavirus outbreak. That meant many people were stuck at home, which limited the service’s idea of providing streaming entertainment on the go. Lots of people asked about smart TV apps, and earlier this week Quibi launched these apps for Android TV, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV devices.
There is still no word as to when exactly the shutdown of the Quibi will take place. Deadline reports that the Quibi could take several months to shut down. There’s also no word on where the service’s 50+ scripted and unscripted TV series, many of which have not yet debuted, will appear after the shutdown. Deadline claims that Katzenberg and Whitman may still sell the service if someone is interested in buying it.