There are serious believers. Quibi raised $1
billion in funding in 2018 from investors
including Disney, NBCUniversal and Viacom,
and announced another $750 million in a
second fundraising round that closed earlier
this month.
After the initial free window (the company’s
response to the coronavirus crisis) Quibi will
cost $4.99 a month with advertising or $7.99
for an ad-free version.
Because the company ramped up production
in light of a possible writers strike last
summer, Katzenberg said, it got ahead of
the pandemic-caused shutdown of TV and
film production. Quibi is on track for new
releases through October or November under
current circumstances.
It enters a marketplace crowded with new and
existing streamers also vying for consumer
dollars, including the upcoming HBO Max. And
then, of course, there’s YouTube, awash with
short-form programming minus a price tag and
with a hold on the same young-adult audience
that Quibi is after.
Quibi’s core business model “faces some
headwinds given its focus on short-form
videos, with the Goliath YouTube front and
center,” said analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush
Securities. “Betting against Katzenberg has not
worked out well for skeptics over his career,” he
added, but he sees an uphill battle for the new
platform to succeed.
Katzenberg pushes back at the idea that
Quibi, with its A-list talent and the big
screen-worthy quality of its movies, can be
undercut by YouTube.