Short-form streaming platform Quibi is dead, but its short-form content might survive on Roku. BloodyDisgusting reports that founders Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman are currently negotiating to sell rights to their shows to Roku, providers of digital media players streaming various online services.
This is good news since there were some interesting TV shows on Quibi, ranging from Sam Raimi’s horror anthology series 50 States of Fright to the revival of the cop spoof Reno 911. Then there is the dystopian thriller Most Dangerous Game, featuring Liam Hemsworth and Christoph Waltz; pregnancy thriller The Expecting by Mary Harron (American Psycho) as well as disaster drama Survive, starring Corey Hawkins and Sophie Turner. It would be a shame for shows featuring such talent both in front and behind the camera to disappear in the digital wasteland. Here’s hoping they survive on Roku.
In February 2020 – about a million years and a pandemic ago – Quibi introduced its impressive slate of short-form TV shows. A brainchild of the former Disney and Dreamworks executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, this new streaming service aimed to provide entertainment “on the go” for mobile devices only. However, by the time Quibi launched in early April, the COVID-19 pandemic began ramping up. While the failure of the platform can’t be blamed solely on the pandemic, it didn’t exactly help it, either. Quibi launched to underwhelming numbers and folded just six months later.
