Quibi, a short form media streaming service that focused on mobile-only consumption, is shutting down just about six months after officially getting launched. This makes it the shortest-lived video streaming service provider to date.
The step taken by the company was inevitable given the botched launch of the service but what’s surprising is that the platform is shutting down just months after its launch. Just a day before, the company had launched its app on Apple TV. So far, the company has not notified its final date to the subscribers.
As per the report from the Wall Street Journal, the company’s founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and Chief Executive Meg Whitman decided to shut down the service to return as much capital to investors as possible instead of trying to prolong the life of the company and risk losing more money.
People aware of the development say that the company will layoff its staff and will pay a severance package. As for the content, Quibi will be exploring options to sell rights to some of the content as well as technology.
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Quibi was launched on 6th April amid the COVID-19 pandemic, although the company had planned its launch months in advance. It offers content to users in 5- to 10-minute chapters to fit on a smartphone screen, designed to be consumed on-the-go.
The company had spent aggressively to develop its content, which includes a star-studded lineup of programming, featuring Chrissy Teigen, Anna Kendrick, Christoph Waltz, Liam Hemsworth, among others.
Earlier in July, Sensor Tower reported that Quibi lost more than 90 percent of its 910,000 subscribers after the three-month free trial period. While the company disputed that claim, it never revealed the actual subscribers count.
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