Why Did Quibi Qwumble?

I haven39t read any of the hindsight quarterbacking or postmortems about its collapse since Quibi called it quits last week or set the stage to do so announcing that it will shut down around the end of Novemberearly December actually December 1 amp8230 after which it will forever be remembered as a reported twobilliondollar bust give or take a hundred million or so Or maybe it will be quickly forgotten an even more punishing indignity by Hollywood standardsAnd ouch This epic fail was confirmed just a couple weeks after Quibi took home two Emmy Awards off an impressive total of ten Primetime Emmy Award nominationsThere are all kind of logical commonsense ideas that explain why Quibi qwapped out and why it shouldn39t have existed in the first place at least not in the way that it did That39s my way of saying that I don39t think it would have survived and thrived even without the pandemic which temporarily cut down two intended audiences that experts thought would ensure a stable foundation for possible future growthThe first audience is students The thinking was that they would watch quick Quibis between classes or on their bus rides or during their lunch breaks or killing time after school But that thinking assumes that kids are looking for something else to do at those times rather than talking to their friends fixating on their social media feeds playing games texting making calls or watching any of the millions of short videos already available to them on powerhouse newcomer TikTok the insurmountable YouTube scrappy SNAP or the story area on Instagram Or of potentially greater significance busily taking their own pictures and shooting their own videos to upload on sameThe second quotobviousquot audience is or should I say was commuters specifically those who travel to and from work every day via train or bus Coronavirus took quick care of them decimating potential viewership by sending everybody home to do everything I39m not convinced that luring commuters to its platform was a viable business model to begin with though because they like their kids at school already have enough stuff with which to fill their daily travel time and they tend to be creatures of habit Their diversions include watching fulllength television and streaming programs on various devices getting ahead on work or seriously reading books or magazines of the paper variety and enjoying a brief break from screens during their daily digital dazeAnd then there is Quibi39s content of which I cannot say too much because I have only sampled a couple of shows But in my opinion big budget microstories featuring top name stars cannot compete with the gonzo energy andor disarming charm of homemade videos by ordinary people YouTube and SNAP are prime showcases for a level of creative expression and sincere sharing by literally millions of people who will never be mistaken for artists that was never available to people in general before the early years of this millennium when digital consumption and production went fully mainstreamAlso despite lofty ideas about attracting fickle schoolchildren and committed commuters the true target of something like Quibi at least until we experience some sort of shift in the cosmos would appear to be Gen Z and Millennials two generational groups that do not like to pay for entertainment Their viewing options come through shared streaming accounts with others generally moms and dads or those quottricksquot they all know that enable them to find anything online for quotfreequot Quibi39s monthly fee 499 for content with ads 799 for content without any may not sound like much but for them it39s the principal of the thing And if they are willing to hand over their own cold cash they are probably enjoying subscriber specials on Hulu or DisneyIn short this was an illadvised and poorly timed effort to get even more money out of a public that is perceived to be entertainmentstarved but is in fact entertainment glutted and always looking for ways to cut costsIn other words Hollywood executives need to get out moreQuibi may be petering out but elements of it could very well live on I don39t know the numbers but there must be thousands of minutes of highquality entertainment in its archives remember those Emmy noms populated by people who are proven attentiongetters and largely unseen by the public Much of it could go to YouTube in some sort of fire sale Or even more tantalizing dozens of serialized Quibi shows could land at basic cable networks and streamers and serve as tantalizing interstitial programming that could on cable play out over a night or a week or a month depending on where it is scheduled or simply be set up for a binge in the streaming worldRemember the web series Fear the Walking Dead Flight 462 that ran as a weekly interstitial program on AMC Like thatClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Why Did Quibi Qwumble?

Author

Publish date

Channel

Ed Martin

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

More Videos:

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Why Did Quibi Qwumble?

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Ed Martin

TAGS:

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

Cookies