The new video streaming platform with a whole heap of investment behind it and a wide variety of star-power to boot wants to be the next big thing but if you ask us, we’d prefer to watch a Ridley Scott movie on a TV, not a smartphone. Maybe we’re just old school like that.
Ever heard of Quibi? We’re willing to bet that you haven’t, it’s a super new video streaming app that’s set the world on fire (more so than it already is). At least, that’s what it wants you think. Reading up on Quibi on Digital Trends, the amount of funding being thrown at this thing is monumental. Investors have reportedly poured $1 billion into the project, founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg (of Disney and Dreamworks notoriety) and while the idea behind that app is certainly… an idea, we’re not sure it’s exactly as exciting as those rich board members think it is.
The whole point of Quibi, a name derived from “Quick Bites”, is viewing “a mix of original and reimagined shows and movies released as a series of 10-minute chapters” according to the aforementioned Digital Trends deep dive. These videos can only be viewed on a smartphone, so don’t think about tethering up to your 50in TV, and will be created by some pretty heavy-hitting filmmakers including Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise and Crissy Teigen. Quibi will reportedly be offering 175 new shows within its first year of launch which some fairly ambitious project management if you ask us.
The whole project just seems… strange. Look, with the success of platforms like TikTok and Vine (RIP) it’s pretty clear that there’s a market for quick and digestible video content but whether or not that content is full-blown Hollywood style production affairs is… Well, we don’t think people are interested in watching that kind of content on a phone. We can watch memes all day on a smartphone, but a movie cut into 10 parts? Rather just watch the full thing uninterrupted. On a big screen. Right?
Besides, it’s not like Quibi will be free. As is the case with everything these days, it’s a subscription service. Charging $8 for viewing with ads and $10 for ad-free viewing, is this really how people want to watch movies? We think not. Maybe we’re just old.