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Quibi's Quick Demise

Quibi's Quick Demise

Quibi's Long Overdue Death

October 27, 2020

It finally happened. After a ton of speculation and some fairly notable denials, Quibi officially announced that it's closing up shop. This week, we'll take a look into what happened to Quibi, and why it's original concept may never see the light of day again, even after the global pandemic ends.

Streamer's Spotlight: Quibi's (Much Anticipated) Failure

In an exclusive news report from Deadline this past week, Quibi's founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and its CEO Meg Whitman jointly announced that the short-lived streaming service was officially shutting down. Responses to this breaking news reported ran the gamut from "That was fast" to "what is Quibi?" Consequently, there were several major factors that played a role in Quibi's quick demise, some of which weren't completely in Katzenberg's and Whitman's control.

Quibi Was Never a Good Idea

It took finally admitting defeat for Katzenberg to acknowledge something many industry observers have been saying for some time: Quibi, as a concept, was not well conceived. By design, Quibi was supposed to only exist as a mobile device app, and serve up bite-sized, 10-15 minute stories that people could view while doing things like taking the subway train to work or waiting for their dentist appointment.

That was flawed from the beginning in two ways. First, people already had a platform for that: YouTube. And YouTube has dominated that space for years. Meanwhile, the rise of TikTok has also filled the niche for short video content that helps people wile away those few short moments between activities.

Secondly, by design, Quibi had several inherent biases. Its design favored people who live in cities over rural and suburban communities, and it initially only launched on mobile devices with no support at all for non-mobile streaming. So, at launch, Quibi was working with a limited market

COVID's Big Impact

As if the design flaws weren't bad enough, the real death knell for Quibi was the global COVID-19 pandemic. How well can a streaming service built on short-form content for people on the go do when people...aren't going anywhere? And when they have more time on their hands than they want or not? Not well, it seems. Consumers' desire for longer content grew expectedly alongside the pandemic. Few people wanted a 10-minute story when they had hours upon hours of downtime to fill.

Quibi's Main Idea Can't Live Post-Pandemic

There are numerous signs that even after the pandemic ends, life won't be the same. Many people and businesses who were on the fence about remote work prior to the pandemic have now made the switch as a matter of consequence. And many have realized that the switch is not only easy to do, but also preferable to the old way of doing things.

There are already studies which indicate for many professionals and businesses,

remote work is here to stay

. And that means a service like Quibi, built solely on micro-content meant to entertain a select group of commuters during small patches of travel time, simply won't have a place in an increasingly remote-working future.

In many ways, billion-plus dollars that major companies like Disney poured into Quibi are a testament to the power of influence, even when ideas are not well thought out. Katzenberg has a lot of pull in media. A decade-long tenure as chairman of Walt Disney Studios a production credit history filled with major hits like

The Little Mermaid

and

Beauty and the Beast

easily gave him street cred with

decision-makers who have incredibly deep pockets.

But it's also, perhaps, a bit of a wake-up call that past performance is not always an indicator of future results. A bit more scrutiny over the idea may have led to more caution on the part of companies seeding Quibi.

At least it'll make for a rather sizeable investment loss tax write-off.

This Week's Streaming Guide

1. Netflix's 'Blood of Zeus' Is Not About Hercules

The refreshing new anime streaming TODAY on Netflix focuses on the demigod Heron.

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2. Netflix Delivering What's Now Called 'The First Polish Slasher Film'

It's not Halloween season until the slash films start coming. Watch the Polish-produced horror film Nobody Sleeps in the Wood Tonight, streaming on Netflix this WEDNESDAY. -

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3. 'The Mandalorian' Season 2 Debuts on Disney+

The long, long wait is over. Watch

The Mandalorian

Season 2 on Disney+ this FRIDAY. -

Watch on Disney+

4. 'The Good Doctor' Returns for Season 4

Although the show's fate was in doubt,

The Good Doctor

returns for season 4 to pick up where the drama ended last year. Stream live on ABC this MONDAY at 10 PM EST.

- Watch ABC Live Without Cable