Introducing Quibi the New Streaming App Taking on Netflix

By Holly
April 27, 2020

Quibi launched this month and is a mobile-first streaming service

The company has a host of Hollywood and showbiz stars lined up for it’s content including Idris Elba, Sophie Turner, Steven Spielberg, Chrissy Teigen and Jennifer Lopez and has raised £1.47 billion for the project intended to rival YouTube and Netflix.

The programmes are designed to be watched on a mobile phone with all the shows running at 10 minutes or less, and movies are broken into segments offering a very different viewing experience for customers on the go. A program called Turnstile allows the video to stay full screen in both portrait or landscape and some shows even encourage viewers to turn the device mid-show to present a different angle to the scene.

So how did the launch go down on social media? It’s highly promoted shows such as Punk’d featuring Chance the Rapper and Survive starring Sophie Turner (Game Of Thrones) received praise. However, the element of watching the shows alone on your smartphone has been criticised. Users complained that they couldn’t share what they were watching with their housemates and during this time of lockdown, the ‘on the go’ element will have been seriously undervalued and under-utilised.

The service costs $4.99 a month with ads and $7.99 without but Quibi are giving away a 90 day free trial at the moment. The company said that it planned to roll out it’s service to other countries gradually but the ad-free version seems to be already available in the UK.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, Quibi’s chief executive Meg Whitman and founder Jeffrey Katzenberg decided to stick with the 6th April launch. Quibi says it’s target audience is between 18 and 44 years old and is intended for use during breaks at work and school and while commuting.

“In several ways, I am exactly the audience Quibi is after. I’m not what you would call a “binge watcher” – I find it hard to sit still through multiple 30-minute episodes. But I do watch plenty of short videos on YouTube and social media throughout the day. Still, the coronavirus lockdown has given me a lot more time to stream TV and movies, so did I need a service with only sub-10-minute episodes? “ stated Zoe Thomas, BBC News Technology Reporter

Other feedback was that your arm gets tired from holding the phone up all day and that you can only share content with other Quibi subscribers. The Turnstile feature is a hit however;

“As I kept watching throughout the day, I found myself using the Turnstile feature more naturally. If I got up to get water or stretch my legs I would take the phone, turning it from horizontal to vertical rather than pausing the show. Yes, I did bump into some things and I can imagine in world of commuting and crowded walkways Quibi could be a hazard” said Thomas

The news features from big brands such NBC, BBC and ESPN and other are reported to be ‘informative, the right length and engaging’.

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