You may have heard about Quibi, a new mobile video option. The platform launched on April 6th, and offers streaming content in small packages – 10 minutes or less. While Quibi has a great premise – good for people on-the-go, those looking for quick breaks between work meetings, etc. – it remains to be seen how launching during the COVID-19 pandemic, with fewer people commuting and many looking for longer content to fill their time, will affect their results.
Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman have marketed the app as a service that provides “quick bites” and “big stories” to subscribers ($4.99/month with ads or $7.99/month without). According to an article by Mediaite, with many people not leaving the house at the moment, the mobile-only feature may be a deal-breaker.
Initial reports showed that Quibi had about 300,000 downloads by the end of the first day. That made it the #3 app in the Apple App Store, but was also just 7.5% the volume of Disney+’s first day installs. The total also included a number of pre-orders.
So how does the advertising work? Well, Quibi has already sold out its entire first year in ads ($150 million in revenue with ad agreements from 10 national companies) and is not accepting any more partnerships. The ad units were sold in sets of 6, 10- or 15-second pre-roll increments that run immediately before Quibi programming. Quibi has also said they will experiment with a number of new ad formats in the time to come.
While you may not be able to advertise on Quibi (at least not yet), and it remains to be seen how fast it takes off, there are a number of other online video options available. We’d be happy to talk with you more about your goals and how online video could help put your message out there.
