Quibi Coming to TV, Says CEO

(Image credit: Quibi)

LOS ANGELES—Quibi was originally slated to be a streaming service just for phones, but after many viewers reportedly complained about that limited access post launch, Quibi is now eyeing a debut on TVs, according to what Quibi CEO Meg Whitman told Bloomberg Television.

“It’s quite an engineering lift—it’s not easy—but engineers are trying to think about how to do this on an accelerated time scale,” Whitman said in the Bloomberg TV interview. “We’ve had a lot of requests for it.”

Whitman said that Quibi on TV may be available within six months. While she told Bloomberg they may have developed a TV option at some point, the coronavirus pandemic that is keeping people at home has ramped up demands and the need for such an option.

The Quibi streaming service, which was founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg, features original content that is presented in 10 minute or less episodes, with new episodes released daily. It features content from Jennifer Lopez, Anna Kendrick, Bill Murray, Will Smith, Steven Spielberg, Sophie Turner and more. Quibi plans to release 175 original shows in its first year.

In its first week, Quibi reportedly had 1.7 million downloads