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Quibi was a streaming service that launched on April sixth, 2020 only to shut down in October that same year. Quibi was then short-lived, that many of you probably haven't fifty-fifty heard of it until today. If you fall into that dislocated category, allow us clear things up for y'all.

Founded in 2018 by old Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, Quibi was a streaming service led by CEO Meg Whitman — yes, of Hewlett Packard Enterprise fame. Co-ordinate to the folks at Quibi, the service was aimed at a younger demographic with its content beingness delivered in the form of short, 10-infinitesimal episodes called "quick bites," hence the platform's goofy-sounding proper noun. After raising $1 billion in funding from major investors like The Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia and others, Quibi commissioned a slew of original content — 8,500 quick bites (or episodes) and over 175 shows — for its first year.

Months afterward the muddled, star-packed Super Bowl 2020 ads, and amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Quibi was finally launched in April. Deadline reported that, in its first day, Quibi was installed by 300,000 users across Apple and Android devices, which isn't terrible, but it too isn't Disney+'southward 4 million launch-day installs. In fact, in its beginning week Quibi reached 1.vii million downloads, according to Whitman. The quirky platform'due south wearisome offset would prove to be symptomatic of the platform'south larger issues.

What Made Quibi Different?

Virtually video-streaming platforms try to optimize content then that it can be viewed on televisions, desktops, or mobile devices. Quibi, withal, fabricated the conscious determination to produce its content specifically for mobile devices only. This meant that users could shift between horizontal and vertical video orientations. And, as we mentioned above, Quibi traded half-hour TV episodes and two-hour films for shows delivered in "quick bite" chapters of 10 minutes or less.

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According to a 2018 Vocalism commodity, 70% of Netflix users stream content on their televisions, leaving roughly 20% to computers and near 10% to mobile devices, like smartphones. Quibi wasn't trying to be Netflix or Hulu. Instead, it took cues from traditional internet video sources, namely YouTube. Brandwatch reports that users collectively sentinel over i billion hours of video on YouTube each twenty-four hour period — more than Netflix and Facebook combined. Unlike Netflix, YouTube is primarily watched on mobile devices (70% of the time) and the boilerplate session lasts upwards of 40 minutes. Needless to say, modeling your streaming platform off of both YouTube and Netflix'south successes is a compelling proposition. Seize with teeth-sized, narrative-driven content that tin can exist watched in the palm of your manus sounds similar the fashion of the time to come on paper, only, merely like that metaphorical newspaper, Quibi leaned into past trends and not enough into the video platforms that are currently taking the (mobile) globe past tempest.

Quibi debuted at a signal when potential viewers had a lot of time on their hands just no one was particularly hard-pressed to detect content. In fact, there might have been besides much content to choose from. At the same fourth dimension, we were all looking for a little multifariousness: Zoom presentations, live-streamed concerts, and celebrity Instagram Alive videos became helpful ways to break upward the monotony of narrative-driven streaming. In office, these platforms are appealing considering they experience a scrap novel and because they're bite-size. Quibi, yet, fumbled by taking more than cues from the pre-internet golden age of tv. Quibi'southward near directly competition was TikTok, a video-sharing platform that has wholly embraced internet culture equally a way to create satisfying and addictive content.

On TikTok, users upload original content — what goes viral is crowd-vetted, non what Hollywood CEOs (or the CEOs of HP, for that matter) think audiences want. Additionally, the popular app, which has around two billion downloads, thrives on users (or creators, really) interacting with ane another, sharing ideas, borrowing audio clips, and remixing (or memeing) content. "People record what they recall would make them and their friends laugh, surprised or enticed," TechCrunch says of TikTok. "The algorithm monitors what you lot're hovering over and rapidly adapts its recommendations to your style."

On the other hand, Quibi was unshareable: You couldn't take screenshots, which meant you couldn't easily share a dialogue (meme-based or otherwise) effectually the quick-bite shows with friends or the larger net audition. Unlike a new release on Netflix, which might see users creating viral, memed content around information technology, Quibi only didn't make that sort of crowd-vetted, crowd-sourced content easy. Despite being designed for mobile viewing, Quibi eschewed any impact-screen interactivity and instead attempted to create slow-burn dramas in small chunks. In an era where nosotros tin hands flick through TikTok and Instagram videos until one hits us the right style, this approach to short-form content was doomed.

Quibi in the Era of the Novel Coronavirus

Not only did Quibi's distinct lack of interactivity pose a problem for its content'due south longevity, but it also posed a problem for what viewers wanted amid the COVID-xix pandemic. With social distancing and shelter-in-place directives in issue, folks were looking for means to almost connect with friends and family unit now more than ever.

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From online gaming to Zoom happy hours, there are enough of workarounds, and, when it comes to streaming TV and movies, the Google Chrome extension called "Netflix Party" allows users to sync Netflix content with friends' devices, ensuring that anybody is watching the same stream at the same time. Better all the same, information technology includes an AIM-style conversation feature. Quibi, despite being catered to phones, didn't accept annihilation like that, which made it a alone platform in a time when folks aren't really seeking out more lonely time.

Okay, then what about the actual content that was on Quibi? Well, it was hit or miss, co-ordinate to early reviewers. Once more, Quibi tried to ally prestige-drama production values with YouTube-style content. Sometimes information technology worked; Reese Witherspoon narratedTrigger-happy Queens, a show most how the female creatures of the animal world boxing for dominance and survival; in Retention Hole, Will Arnett ran through popular culture disasters from decades by; and, thanks to NightGowns, y'all could watch fantastic Sasha Velour-helmed drag performances on your phone.

Simply these mildly entertaining shows were outweighed by the non-then-groovy. Viewers could cheque out the "meh" quick bites, like Chrissy Teigen'due south Chrissy's Court, which saw her as a approximate presiding over downright ridiculous cases, too as the downright terrible shows, which includedMurder Business firm Flip, a somehow-boring true-crime-meets-dwelling house-renovation show, and When the Street Lights Proceed, a drama nigh a dead teen girl that Vulture reviewer Kathryn VanArendonk says is "fabricated so poorly that I was occasionally envious of [the dead woman]."

Quibi'southward mixed pocketbook of content wasn't lost to the ether when the platform close downwards in October. Roku purchased Quibi's content library and began streaming select shows on May 20th, 2021. If y'all desire to bank check out the good, the bad, and the ugly of Quibi's catalog, Roku is your best bet.