It’s still unclear at this point if the launch of the Quibi mobile streaming service during this time is a stroke of genius or ill-timed. People have a lot more time to watch all the shows and movies they want but there’s also a sense of anxiety so bite-sized programming may be the perfect way to capture their attention. Either way, Quibi is now officially available to fight for your attention during this age of the COVID-19 pandemic and it comes with a 90-day free trial.
What makes Quibi stand out from other streaming services available now is that it will only be available for smartphones and tablets, although it is created more for the former. They are focusing on original programming, with each show split up into “chapters” of 7-10 minutes each. Think of it as the TikTok or Snapchat for your streaming shows. They have different genres available, from documentaries to movies to scripted shows to reality shows.
The shows that they have produced and will be creating in the future were shot and edited in a way that you can flip between portrait and landscape without disrupting your viewing. The style is called Turnstyle and is one of the things that they are highlighting, aside from the quick byte (that’s why Quibi) style of programming. And since people are still very much concerned with current events, they also have 5-6 minute shows or “Daily Essentials” which should be easier to consume than the usual news programs.
Quibi is also not lacking in star firepower. They have investors like Steven Spielberg, Anna Kendrick, Guillermo del Toro, etc, since the founder is former Disney and Dreamworks chief Jeffrey Katzenberg. Stars in their initial line-up of shows include Liam Hemsworth, Sophie Turner, Queen Latifah, Chrissy Teigen, etc. For non-fiction shows you have LeBron James, Chance the Rapper, among other stars. There’s daily content from BBC, NBC, ESPN, and Telemundo.
Quibi is offering a 90-day free trial if you sign up by April 30 which should serve us well for the next three months. After that you will be charged $4.99 per month for the ad-supported subscription while the ad-free tier is at $7.99 per month. You can download the app from the Google Play Store and it seems to be available in a lot of territories already.
