Meg Whitman And Jeff Katzenberg’s Quibi Has Already Sold $100 Million In Ads

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 20, 2019
  • Short-form video streaming service Quibi has already hit $100 million in ad deals before launching
  • This service — which is launching in April 2020 — was founded by former HP CEO Meg Whitman and DreamWorks Animation founder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg

Quibi — an upcoming short-form video streaming service founded by former HP CEO Meg Whitman and DreamWorks Animation founder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg — is not launching until next year, but it has already hit $100 million in ad deals.

At the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France during a session with MediaLink founder Michael Kassan, the duo said that the service is resonating with advertisers that are looking for different ways to reach younger audiences.

According to CNBC, Procter & Gamble, Walmart, PepsiCo, Google, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and Progressive already signed on as the company’s launch partners. Quibi will have a mobile-first viewing experience. And Whitman said that the company is expecting 75% of its users to opt for an ad-supported option, which will cost $4.99 per month. The ad-free version will cost $7.99 per month. The ads will be short in length.

The five-minute clips will feature ads that are 6-10 seconds and cannot be skipped. So for an hour of programming, viewers will see about 2.5 minutes of ads.

Katzenberg pointed out that the model will win over a very difficult model of people who are in their later 20s and early 30s. And the ads on the platform could be attractive to that demographic by serializing them. So a 60-second commercial could have four chapters to it and will follow along as you watch four Quibi videos.

Marc S. Pritchard, the Chief Brand Officer at Procter & Gamble, pointed out that this model had his attention since brands are looking into gaining awareness with consumers without being too disruptive.

“What we’re going to create is advertising, I don’t even know if you want to call it advertising — it’s going to be content that’s going to be organic to the experience,” said Pritchard via CNBC.

Quibi’s original programming will feature a film about the rise of Snapchat creator Evan Spiegel called “Frat Boy Genius.” And Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro are also signed on to do programs. Interestingly, Spielberg’s horror program can only be watched when it is dark outside based on your time zone.

Quibi is going to be launching officially on April 6, 2020.