The spectacular failure of Quibi -- the mobile-first, digital-first, standalone service -- begs a major question.
What if it wasn’t a standalone service -- perhaps attached to a big
TV/media company? What if it had been part of Disney+, HBO Max or Netflix? Or, thinking more digitally, Facebook, Google, Apple or Twitter?
“There is no question being a start-up has
challenges that a big company doesn’t have,” says Meg Whitman, CEO of Quibi, on CNBC. “Maybe at a different time, in a different place, this would have worked
better.”
Big media companies’ new streaming businesses can have staying power. For example, Apple TV + continues to be a slow-growing premium service, where the cash-rich Apple
continues to pour billions into content production.
To that end, Whitman, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, founder-chairman of Quibi, had major media investment backing: nearly $1.8 billion.
Additionally, Katzenberg had a pedigree of major media senior executive successes at movie/TV companies. He was CEO of DreamWorks Animation (cofounder, along with Steven Spielberg and David
Geffen, of Dreamworks SKG), and before that, chairman of Walt Disney Studios and president of Paramount Pictures.
advertisement
advertisement
A point of contention was Quibi’s business model -- a
subscription/advertising model. What if Quibi had a free/ad-supported model option -- which has been a growing theme among new premium streamers? Whitman says Quibi did test one in Australia, but it
didn’t do that well.
Good news for Quibi: Critics’ reviews were positive for its TV series and other content. Right now, Katzenberg says he is still trying to sell some of this content to interested buyers. More ambitiously, Quibi tried to sell the entire
company. Presently, there are no takers, says Katzenberg.
At nearly $2 billion from media and other investors, Quibi felt it didn’t need to be a part of a big media company -- the growing
digital world had plenty of room for independent companies.
The pandemic? Sure, that was a major issue. But ask yourself: HBO Max and Peacock also started around the same time as the Quibi
launch. They have had some success, according to analysts, but not big gains so far. Add in Apple TV+ to this mix.
Have any of these services folded? Nope. Parent companies of those premium
services -- WarnerMedia NBCUniversal, and Apple -- have resources. Long-term.
Just to repeat: The Quibi brand was shorthand for “quick bites.”