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The streaming platform Quibi ceases to exist after barely six months. However, we never gave the project much chance of success.
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Quibi was nevertheless announced with a lot of drum roll in April. The concept would be completely innovative: the content offer specialized in short miniseries, with videos that rarely lasted more than 10-20 minutes. Many great Hollywood actors and directors have been roped in to produce content: The Rock, Idris Elba, Liam Hemsworth and many more. Videos could be viewed both horizontally and vertically in full-screen mode, a technical skill we never saw before. In doing so, Quibi focused entirely on the target group of the ‘mobile’ generation, which likes to consume video content on-the-go.
That was the plan. But in practice it turned out differently. Founders Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, who have already earned their stripes in the tech and entertainment industry at DreamWorks and eBay, announced this week that the streaming platform will launch around December 1. cease to exist. The number of subscribers remained well below expectations, and instead of unnecessarily trying to resuscitate Quibi, they are already pulling the plug. That after just six months.
This is not really a big surprise to us. We never really saw a lot of potential in Quibi. For these reasons it could never be more than an ambitious dream for us:
1. Cut-throat competition
A first cause is not illogical. The streaming market is currently one of the most aggressive markets there is. Netflix enjoyed a quasi-global monopoly for a long time, but that monopoly is gradually crumbling. Amazon was one of the first to try to see the chair legs of Netflix, and in 2019 alone, Apple and Disney joined with the same ambitions. In another weight category, there is also YouTube, which actually made the concept of video streaming big. Because of the focus on user-generated content, YouTube is not a competition for the aforementioned platforms.
2. Unclear positioning
In order to be able to familiarize yourself as a new player in that market, your value proposition must be right. And we found that unclear at Quibi from the beginning. I already mentioned the platform in April ‘the odd man out in the streaming breakfast’. Because where exactly did the platform want to position itself in the market? The content, with many fiction series, was most similar to Netflix and the like in terms of content, but in terms of format Quibi was more like YouTube due to the short videos. At launch, Quibi was presented as an alternative to YouTube, but taking the gauntlet with a video platform that has a 15-year head start, 2 billion users and offers its content for free, was very brave. And especially very proud. What are people saying about pride?
3. Moderate supply
Quibi’s mission could only succeed if the content offer was right. And Quibi did not really impress with that either. Series like Most Dangerous Game (with Liam Hemsworth and Christopher Waltz) and #FreeRayshawn (with Lawrence Fishburne) were still appealing, but were not enough to win souls for Quibi. The other series were generally just mediocre and not very memorable. And even paying 5 euros per month feels like a lot, especially if you already have subscriptions for other streaming platforms that can offer high-quality content.
4. Unfortunate timing
Of course you need a bit of luck for every new project you launch. Unfortunately, fate did not go along for Quibi either. The platform debuted in a full corona pandemic, when strict lockdown measures were in place in many countries. Annoying for a platform that you should watch ‘on-the-go’. Quibi tried to save himself by also launching an app for smart TVs, but it soon became clear that we prefer to set up Netflix on our television. Then you can ask whether it would not be more sensible to postpone the launch until the corona virus was less strong. You can certainly say that, but due to the uncertainty surrounding that virus and the many investments that were pumped into the platform, the founders of Quibi took the gamble. And if you gamble, you can always lose.
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