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If you've never heard of Quibi, the simplified mobile video platform launched by former HP CEO Meg Whitman and Hollywood heavyweight Jeffrey Katzenberg, you're probably not alone.
The service has not even been launched yet and it is not supposed to do it for a year. Quibi, which takes its name from the phrase "quick bite" for the easily digestible types of video content it aims to produce, plans to raise an additional $ 1 billion, in addition to the $ 1 billion already available, for his service to be properly funded to take off, according to a report this L & # 39; information.
The dazzling figure is, at first glance, a little ridiculous for a service that has not yet been launched and that does not carry a brand that pulls the language as well as Netflix (or at all). But Quibi's founders, seeking up to $ 2 billion in funding, illustrate how serious a company needs to engage with broadcast platforms such as Netflix and traditional entertainment conglomerates, such as Disney, not .
Last year, Netflix spent $ 12 billion to acquire and produce content for its platform and plans to spend up to $ 15 billion this year, according to its fourth quarter earnings report. last. Amazon, on the other hand, is working on massive adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and The wheel of time, the former commander potentially the largest budget in the history of television.
At the same time, Disney is investing heavily in its upcoming Disney + streaming service, adjusting it below the launch level of Netflix, reserving Avengers: End of the gameThe ongoing launch of the platform and almost all of the company's massive entertainment devices is aimed at producing new shows and films that can be broadcast, including Lucasfilm with a new trilogy of Star wars films from Gamne of Thrones David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Disney also acquired Comcast's participation in Hulu this week, giving it full control of another platform through which it can broadcast original content.
What does Quibi have? Not much, at least compared to the seemingly endless wave of Netflix Originals, the Marvel properties of Disney and Star Wars, and the The Lord of the Rings adaptation. It is precisely for this reason that Whitman and Katzenberg seem so determined to raise so much money. Without considerable budgets, Quibi will never have the names necessary to attract viewers or future talent. Until now, we know that the company has recruited the estimated director Guillermo del Toro and original Spider Man Sam Raimi, director of the trilogy, will produce new content. The service also announced a series exploring the origin of Snapchat and its co-founder and CEO, Evan Spiegel, who are compared to those of Aaron Sorkin. The social network.
But if Quibi is going to take off is an open question. The abbreviated video format is an unprecedented format for the mobile, especially after the $ 1.2 billion Verizon Go90 disaster before Verizon shut it down last year. Snap also struggled to compete in the mobile video industry with its Discover initiative.
Unless his video is produced by the user, such as on YouTube, Twitch and TikTok, like the one Quibi wants to produce, which would consist of videos of less than 10 minutes or so, it might not appeal to younger users , although it is high quality and produced by big Hollywood names. But the opportunities to replicate the success of streaming video services seem too attractive to Whitman and Katzenberg, and it could cost 2 billion dollars to invest if the tandem can find gold where so many others have been struck.
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