Founded by Katzenberg and led by CEO Meg Whitman, Quibi offered customers short-form streaming content that was initially exclusive to mobile devices. While the launch of the service gained significant media attention, Quibi failed to gain traction and Katzenberg attributed the company’s underwhelming performance to the COVIDF-19 pandemic’s impact on the daily routines of would-be customers. While the company made adjuments in the ensuing months, including the addition of features that allowed Quibi content to be cast on televisions, the company ultimately folded andRoku began to inquire about purchasing its portfolioin early 2021.
RELATED:Studio Ghibli’s ‘Earwig And The Witch’ Gets Theatrical, HBO Max Release Dates
WhileQuibi offered short-form contentdesigned for mobile devices, the Roku experience will aim for longer engagement in the living room. “It’s the same availability of content, the same presentation of content,” Holmes said in an interview with Deadline. “But as we spent a bunch of time with it, it really works, but they’re just TV episodes. I think their premise was, you have 10 minutes, you would watch it. Our view is, this is TV, someone’s going to spend half an hour or an hour or two hours watching it because it’s just that compelling.”
Roku recently experienced another surge in stock prices with news of the company closing a deal toprovide HBO Max to its customers. With the new agreement, HBO Max is now available on nearly all major devices, including Fire TV, iOS devices, Playstation, Xbox, and Google devices.
The deal between Roku and HBO Max was closed just in time forthe debut ofWonder Woman 1984, which premiered on the WarnerMedia streamer day-and-date with select theaters in the U.S. According to the results of a survey, adding the long-awaited DC sequel to the HBO Max played a significant part in adding and retaining customers.
