After a less-than-stellar debut, perennial laughing stock of the streaming world Quibi is considering cutting its losses, among other options.
Quibi launched back in April, but didn’t quite make the splash creators Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman were hoping for. The conceit of the service — every episode of every original show is under 10 minutes — didn’t work so well in a world where fewer people were commuting on account of the pandemic, and while there are a good variety of series on there, none had the “oomph” needed to make Quibi a real competitor to the likes of Netflix or Disney+.
Basically, a lot of factors combined to make sure Quibi didn’t do very well, and now, the company may be looking to other options, according to The Wall Street Journal.
What are these options, you ask? Well, the company could try and raise more money on top of the $1.75 billion its already raised, merge with a special type of company called an SPAC (special-purpose acquisition company), or just sell itself to anyone who saw what’s happened to Quibi so far and thinks, ‘Yeah, that’s a good investment.’
My heart goes out to Quibi. They tried hard, making shows with the likes of Sophie Turner, Liam Hemsworth, Will Arnett and many more to entertain us, but the subscription numbers have never been up to par.
Despite the turmoil the mobile-only (well, initially) streaming service has faced, it was still able to snag a couple Emmy wins, with Laurence Fishburne and Jasmine Cephas Jones earning statues for #FreeRayshawn. That could go under their list of pros when the execs are trying to figure out whatever the heck to do next.
May you survive, Quibi.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels
h/t AV Club