Short-form streaming service Quibi Holdings LLC on Wednesday announced that it was pulling the plug on the platform aimed at smartphone users hungry for entertainment on the go.
The brainchild of Hollywood powerhouse Jeffrey Katzenberg, Quibi launched in April with content tailored for busy people just as the pandemic compelled them to slow down and stay in.
“Quibi was founded to create the next generation of storytelling,” Katzenberg said in a release. “The world has changed dramatically since Quibi launched and our standalone business model is no longer viable.”
Photo: AFP
Katzenberg reportedly tried to sell the start-up’s catalogue of programs to companies including NBCUniversal Media LLC and Facebook Inc without success.
The streaming service has more than 100 original series spanning a range of genres, with episodes specifically designed for viewing on smartphones and lasting no more than 10 minutes, it said.
“We have assembled a world-class creative and engineering team that has created an original platform fueled by groundbreaking technology and IP, enabling consumers to view premium content in a whole new way,” Katzenberg said.
Quibi plans to wind down operations and sell off its assets. It had hoped to keep users coming back with daily news, sports and entertainment shows.
“Quibi was a big idea and there was no one who wanted to make a success of it more than we did,” Katzenberg and Quibi CEO Meg Whitman said in a letter to its employees posted on Medium.
“Our failure was not for lack of trying; we’ve considered and exhausted every option available to us,” the letter said.
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