Quibi: Premium Content for Mobile Audiences

Is the mobile audience ready to view Hollywood produced content on their smartphones? Jeffrey Katzenberg, former Disney Studios chairman, and Meg Whitman, former eBay CEO, believe so. Introducing their new platform idea: Quibi.

What is Quibi?

Quibi is short for “Quick Bites.” It is a platform that will offer long-form content broken up into bite-sized, eight-minute segments. Meg Whitman describes Quibi as the first entertainment platform that offers “quick-bite” content that is created by Hollywood’s top talent. Combined with a technology platform, consumers can view extraordinary content on their smartphones.

Consumers can already watch videos on mobile devices. However, the vision for Quibi is to make the quality of the content and experience even better. Aside from top-tier Hollywood production, Quibi will enhance the experience with seamless transitions between portrait and landscape orientation when watching the content.

Quibi is not the first to attempt mobile video, though. Some might recall Go90, Verizon’s mobile-oriented video service that launched in 2015. It never gained enough traction and closed down in 2018. Hulu founder Jason Kilar also tried with his video service called Vessel, which was also shut down.

Who is Quibi for?

Quibi is targeted towards 25-35-year old users. According to Nielsen data, 18-34-year-olds spend the most time on their smartphones. Here’s the breakdown of where users are spending their time per week:

• Apps and on the web: 17 hours and 40 minutes
• Watching TV: 14 hours
• Video apps and websites: 1 hour and 34 minutes
• Social media: 5 hours and 18 minutes

Clearly, social takes the cake. Social platforms like YouTube and Facebook are going to be Quibi’s largest competition when it comes to grabbing mobile users’ time and attention. Right now, YouTube captures 70% of viewership through smartphones and Facebook sees 88% of its users through mobile devices.

One thing is certain: mobile is where the audience is watching video. Quibi is forecasted to launch in April 2020.