- Short-form video company Quibi is shutting down. These are the details.
Short-form video company Quibi is shutting down. The company had sent a note to employees and investors about the shutdown earlier this week.
Quibi rolled out in April in a crowded field of video streaming services, but its distinguishable feature was that episodes of its programs were at between 5 and 10-minute episodes and the cost was set at $4.99 per month with ads or $7.99 with ads. Plus Quibi was just available on mobile devices.
After the launch, Quibi did not gain as much momentum as anticipated and Jeffrey Katzenberg largely attributed to the stall in growth on the pandemic. Former eBay and HP CEO Meg Whitman served as co-founder and CEO of Quibi.
Before deciding to shutdown, Quibi had approached several technology executives to see if they would be interested in buying out. Supposedly executives at Facebook, Apple, and Warner Media were approached.
One of the reasons why Quibi may not have been feasible for a buyout is due to the licensing deals. Content on Quibi is exclusive to that platform for only two years and then the creators were able to license the content to other services. And then after seven years, the creators would gain ownership back in the content.
Quibi had raised around $1.8 billion in funding prior to shutting down. Even though the company has several hundred million in debt, it reportedly has more than $800 million left in the bank. It is unknown how much money will be returned to investors.
“We feel that we’ve exhausted all our options. As a result we have reluctantly come to the difficult decision to wind down the business, return cash to our shareholders, and say goodbye to our colleagues with grace,” said Quibi in an announcement.
