- Technology and entertainment startup Quibi has already sold out of its $150 million ad inventory for the first year before even launching
Quibi — a technology and entertainment startup based in Hollywood founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman — is going to be launching in about six months or so. However, a group of advertisers has already committed to spending millions in the mobile video service. Specifically, Quibi sold out of its $150 million advertising inventory for the first year according to Variety.
Some of the category-exclusive ad partners for the launch in April 2020 include ABInBev, Discover, General Mills, Google, Procter & Gamble, Pepsi, Progressive, T-Mobile Taco Bell, and Walmart. T-Mobile is the exclusive wireless launch partner for Quibi.
Quibi has raised about $1 billion in funding. Some of the investors include WarnerMedia, The Walt Disney Company, Sony, Viacom, Liberty Global, and Alibaba. The movie studios are also expected to set up ads on the service.
The name Quibi is a portmanteau of the words “quick” and “bite.” The service will feature short-form entertainment content that is targeted towards a demographic of 25-to-35-year olds. Quibi is spending millions of dollars to gain original shows from Steven Spielberg, Guillermo del Toro, and Catherine Hardwick. Quibi will be priced at $5 with ads and $8 for a subscription without ads.
Quibi is going to provide advertisers with an “uncluttered” environment feature non-skippable preroll ads for 6, 10, or 15 seconds before the shows. Plus the company will also test out several other “innovative ad formats.”
“We are seeing a tremendous response from advertising partners who recognize the value of Quibi’s premium, brand-safe, mobile platform that is focused on the highly coveted millennial audience,” said Whitman in a statement.
Katzenberg is known as the co-founder and former CEO of DreamWorks. And Katzenberg also served as the chair of Disney between 1984 and 1994. Before that, he was the president of motion pictures at Paramount Pictures. And Meg Whitman previously served as the CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP, and eBay.
