Update: Roku has officially bought the exclusive global distribution rights to the Quibi library. The deal covers most of the Quibi library, but some daily news shows are not part of the package. A key draw for Roku is the talent, a roster including Idris Elba, Kevin Hart, Liam Hemsworth, Anna Kendrick, Nicole Richie, Chrissy Teigen, and Lena Waithe. As of this writing, the financial details have not been disclosed. The programming will be available for free starting later this year. It will carry advertising, as it did on the $5-a-month Quibi service, and it will be housed on the Roku channel.
Quibi may have died a relatively quick death after launching in April of 2020 but its library of content could get a second life at a new home. According to "Deadline", Roku is in talks to acquire Quibi's library of content.
The news actually comes to "Deadline" via a report from "The Wall Street Journal" and it should be stressed that these talks are very early and could still fall through. The report states that Roku is nearing a deal to buy the content catalog of Quibi, the short-form mobile streaming platform launched by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman which officially shuttered back in December. The financial terms of the proposed deal haven’t been revealed and details still need to be ironed out.
The intention of Quibi, which was Katzenberg and Whitman’s $1.75 billion venture, was intended to change how consumers took in their streaming content. The series and films were served in 10-minute bits or less & the shows launched with a lot of publicity and high-profile stars attached to various projects on the platform. Names attached to Quibi included Guillermo del Toro, Steven Spielberg, Antoine Fuqua, Reese Witherspoon, Anna Kendrick, Liam Hemsworth, Sophie Turner, and Jennifer Lopez. Despite all the buzz and fanfare, Quibi didn’t gain much traction and in October it was announced that they were shutting down.
The one thing that Quibi had going for it was that the content was good enough to explore some kind of future to continue. Under some of the deals at Quibi, producers partnered with the service to exhibit their shows on the platform for seven years. According to "The Wall Street Journal", there were some contracts that stated the content couldn’t be shared on other platforms but Roku’s contract terms wouldn’t prevent the company from airing the content. If this deal comes to fruition, it could lead to some of that promising content gaining traction & continuing via Roku. The one aspect of Quibi that turned consumers off, which was the platform's main marketing push, was that the shows were meant to be primarily viewed on your mobile device. A move of the content to Roku would open it up to air on your Smart TVs which will likely be more enticing to consumers.
Do YOU think Roku should pick up Quibi's library? Were there any shows on the platform that deserve a second life?