Quibi, the short-form mobile focused video streaming service, is calling it quits today after about 6 months. The format was an interesting one, mobile focused movies that were watchable in 8-10 minute chunks, and that were edited in both landscape and portrait mode to be viewable in either, but the service just didn't catch on. Despite some interesting content (like The Stranger and When the Streetlights Go On), the service struggled to find and maintain a following. It is rumored that of the 910,000 users who signed up for the generous 3 month trial, only 72,000 remained as paying customers. Part of this was likely circumstances as a mobile-focused streaming service launching right before a lockdown was poor timing indeed.
Although Quibi is shutting down, the bigger question is what happens to the content that the company has amassed. It has a nice catalog of star-studded films and short form content, so where that ends up is anyone's guess. Reports were that it was trying to sell the content earlier, but no one was buying. Hopefully this will find a home somewhere. I could see this being particularly useful for AppleTV+, which has some great content but not a lot of it. An injection of Quibi's videos and the recent extension of the free trial through February 2021 could be just what the service needs to retain some users.
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