While the streaming wars rage on with big originals and expensive features, two of tech and Hollywood’s biggest names are going small.
Jeffery Katzenberg, the former Disney Studios chairman who also helped launch DreamWorks studios, and Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO, are teaming up to launch Quibi (“Quick Bites” for short), a new streaming service for spring of 2020. The service will offer high quality videos that are 10 minutes or less in length. The service will be exclusively for mobile phones.
It’s “a really different thing” than what else is out there, Whitman told CNN Business in an interview at Austin’s SXSW conference earlier this month.
“There may be long stories, but you can get a full experience in 10 minutes if you’re waiting at a doctor’s office,” Whitman said.
Quibi won’t actually make any of its own content in house — it’s not a studio, Whitman said.
Instead, the company will license content that fits into one of three categories. The first, “Lighthouses,” will be premium video stories that will cost $100,000 per minute to produce — on par with some of the most expensive shows on TV.
“Quick Bites” will be three-to-seven minute standalone episodes of “reality and alternative,” according to Katzenberg. And “Daily Essentials” will be a category of roughly six-minute long videos that consist of sports and news coverage.
“We will actually import the brands of our partners onto our platform,” Katzenberg said. “We’re not putting our brand on top of your brand.”
Quibi’s inaugural programs include a show that stars Jennifer Lopez and a series about Evan Spiegel and Snapchat, the social media platform he built, called “Frat Boy Genius.” Whitman said they’re targeting viewers aged 25 to 35.
Katzenberg is best known for overseeing the creation of content, not licensing it: His tenure at Disney in the 1980s and 1990s was marked by acclaimed and beloved films, including “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Aladdin.”
Katzenberg said his experience as a “storyteller” makes him excited about Quibi. He called the bite-sized chunks of video a “natural evolution” of filmed entertainment — high quality productions brought to you on a cellphone.
The decision to target mobile phones also makes the company stand out from the other streaming options, Katzenberg said.
“While everybody else is out building and looking for the next opportunity around traditional television… we’re going right, they’re all heading left,” he said. “So it’s an open field for us.”
Quibi has some deep pocketed investors including major media companies such as Disney and CNN’s parent company, WarnerMedia, as well as the e-commerce company Alibaba. It has reportedly raised $1 billion in funding.
The company has also poached some big names to oversee content and news, including Janice Min, the former editorial director of The Hollywood Reporter, Becky Brooks, former CBS’ senior vice president of multiplatform programming and branded content, and Ryan Kadro, who used to be the executive producer of “CBS This Morning.”
But will consumers be willing to sign up for a mobile-only, short-form video service after years of being conditioned to long storytelling on big screens? Whitman and Katzenberg are betting on it.
“Everyone is on their mobile at so much more time than they’ve ever been before,” Whitman said. “We’re going to give them great content with a great viewing experience for in between moments.”
