Roku brought back Quibi's short program library

Roku brought back Quibi's short program library

Following reports earlier this week that "advanced discussions" were taking place, Roku announced it has acquired Quibi's library of short shows just three months after the mobile streaming service shut down. The agreement allows Roku to secure the rights to more than 75 Quibi shows and, according to Roku, they will be available to stream on the free, ad-supported Roku channel later this year in the United States and Canada. and the UK. In addition to the shows that Quibi had previously released, there will also be a dozen that didn't show until the service was shut down making its Roku debut. According to Variety, these new shows will include Stephen Spielberg's horror series Spielberg After Dark. Roku will assume Quibi's existing seven-year license rights to the programs, which includes exclusive access to the content for two years. Established as a mobile streaming service by Jeffrey Katzenberg in April 2020, Quibi focused on delivering short-form content to mobile viewers short on time. During its short lifespan, the service attracted big names like Liam Hemsworth, Anna Kendrick, and Idris Elba and even earned Emmy nominations. However, it was unable to provide the numbers it needed, and its closure was announced in October 2020 before the app stopped working entirely in December.

More than mobile

Quibi's content may have been created with mobile devices in mind, but Roku's Rob Holmes noted that it will soon be available "anywhere you can watch the Roku Channel," accessible on Roku devices, the Roku mobile app. and on the web. In a statement (via Variety), Jeffrey Katzenberg said of the deal: “Hollywood's most creative and imaginative minds have created groundbreaking content for Quibi that has exceeded our expectations. We're thrilled that these stories, from the surreal to the sublime, have found a new place on the Roku channel. Roku did not give an exact date for bringing this new content to The Roku Channel, but recommended "stay tuned" to the Roku blog for more details in the future.