Quibi
It raised US$1.75 billion to reinvent mobile television and disappeared eight months after launch.
Quick facts
- Existence state
- Officially Gone
- Peak stage
- general availability
- Research confidence
- high
- Last verified
What it was
A subscription streaming service built around premium episodes under ten minutes, designed primarily for viewing on phones.
Quibi launched globally with major Hollywood partners, a large original catalogue and Turnstyle viewing that reframed video between portrait and landscape. It was a complete paid public service rather than a test.
Existence timeline
The mobile-first streaming venture is established and begins securing studio and investor commitments.
Quibi completes financing and sells its first year of advertising ahead of debut.
The paid mobile service debuts with dozens of short-form programmes.
The founders publish an open letter saying the standalone business will close and its assets will be sold.
Quibi's apps stop providing the original consumer service roughly eight months after launch.
Roku acquires Quibi content rights, later relaunching the programmes as Roku Originals.
Why it ended
On 21 October 2020, founders Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman announced that the business would wind down after concluding it could not continue as a standalone service. Streaming ended on or about 1 December.
Last confirmed trace
Quibi's open letter, archived apps, marketing and patented viewing ideas remain, while its programmes were acquired and redistributed by Roku as Roku Originals.
What it left behind
Quibi became a compact case study in timing, platform assumptions and the risk of funding a new viewing format before proving that audiences wanted the surrounding service.
Questions this archive answers
Why did Quibi fail?
On 21 October 2020, founders Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman announced that the business would wind down after concluding it could not continue as a standalone service. Streaming ended on or about 1 December.
What happened to Quibi's shows after shutdown?
Quibi became a compact case study in timing, platform assumptions and the risk of funding a new viewing format before proving that audiences wanted the surrounding service.
How we classified it
Quibi launched globally as a paid consumer service with a finished catalogue and subscriptions, then closed permanently.
A global paid launch reached the 100-point general-availability stage.
Sources & verification
Last reviewed 2026-08-01. Sources are linked so readers can inspect the evidence directly.