What you need to know
- Quibi is set to strike a deal with Roku, transferring the rights to its content to the larger company.
- The exact terms of the deal have yet to be shared, and it may still fall apart.
- Quibi announced that it would be shutting down last October after failing to take off.
Quibi may have shut down, but its content may find new life if the company manages to strike a deal with Roku. According to the Wall Street Journal, it's on the cusp of doing exactly that.
The Journal reports that Roku plans on acquiring rights to Quibi's library, though how much money would change hands hasn't been disclosed. It's not a done deal yet either and could fall apart even at this stage as the Journal notes.
Quibi as a concept was one that had lots of potential, but also a product which was built on questionable strategy. It didn't allow for easy sharing, preventing it from taking off like TikTok, and the content was less spontaneous and more studio-produced, and there was no virality or community to keep people coming back. For a service that was supposed to be mobile-exclusive, it eschewed a lot of the mobile-first trappings that competitors had to ensure stickiness.
As a result, this potential deal isn't seen as wise by all. Some like the Financial Times believe this to be a foolhardy endevavour, pointing out that the content has already failed to entice users in the recent past. Perhaps Quibi's shows may find success on a platform that's less mobile-oriented. If Roku manages to strike a deal, we'll see how that plays out.
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A worthy successor to the original Chromecast, the new Chromecast with Google TV can stream 4K HDR videos up to 4K HDR at up to 60 frames per second and also supports Dolby Vision. And if you're in Canada, you get six months of Netflix for free!
