Streaming service Quibi with rotatable video is discontinued
Streaming service Quibi, which wanted to distinguish itself with videos that can be watched horizontally and vertically on telephones fullscreen, is calling it quits. The service had existed for a little over six months in total, but did not attract viewers.
The idea behind Quibi is not good enough and the timing was wrong, the founders think. The project came from the film industry and big names were engaged in it. The idea was that viewers can watch the videos on phones and that it is filmed in such a way that the action is shown horizontally and vertically full screen.
The timing would not be right, because the corona pandemic means that fewer people are often on the road and want to watch videos. The service has series with episodes that last between five and ten minutes and that should therefore be viewable during bus, train, tram and metro rides.
All employees will be fired and the service itself will no longer work. Quibi is a company owned by Jeffrey Katzenberg, who previously worked for Disney and who is co-founder of animation studio Dreamworks. Quibi went live in April and has since added the feature to watch series on TVs. Quibi has not been available in the Benelux.
Image of Quibi’s presentation at CES this year