The company hoped its unconventional approach -- very expensive, star-packed programming released in 10-minute-or-less episodes that you can watch only on phones or mobile devices -- would find a sweet spot in a streaming landscape crowded with Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, Peacock and HBO Max.
“I’m going to enjoy some downtime.”. How did it end when he closed the company? Americans love that. Conditions were much different on the day it came out. “Think about how often you use your phone when you’re homebound,” she said. "Quibi was a big idea, and there was no one who wanted to make a success of it more than we did," Whitman and founder Jeffrey Katzenberg said … A newly installed interim marketing executive for Quibi, Ann Daly, once the president of DreamWorks Animation, has worked with Mr. Katzenberg since 1997. It’s not up to what we wanted. Under creator-friendly deals, many of its shows were made on Quibi's dime, and then Quibi licensed the programming for a two-year exclusive period. “Those are all the things we are trying to deliver to them.”. Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman had to cancel a starry Hollywood party for their short-video platform because of the virus. Entertainment options have also expanded while Mr. Katzenberg and Ms. Whitman were building their app with 267 employees in an open-floor office in Hollywood.

“Americans are used to a softer style, a compliment sandwich. A return to business put her in charge of Hewlett-Packard, which she left in 2017. The Post has spoken with five ex-Eko employees who have fielded calls from Quibi’s private eyes in recent weeks. A recent report found that Quibi had given away its customers’ email addresses without their knowledge. Quibi -- a star-studded, mostly mobile streaming service that struggled to keep up with its own hype -- will shut down, the company said Tuesday, a flameout coming less than seven months after the service launched. “The Daily Essentials are not that essential,” Mr. Katzenberg quipped.


The company finally launched native apps for Apple TV, Amazon’s Fire TV and Android TV only two days before Quibi announced that it will close its doors.

It was audacious ambition, but the company had a huge war chest, big-name leadership and an eye-popping bill of talent involved. As Zoom and TikTok top the app charts, Mr. Katzenberg and other Quibi executives have been working on reducing their projections from the seven million users and $250 million in subscriber revenue they had estimated for Quibi’s first year. In response, Mr. Katzenberg and Ms. Whitman have backpedaled on their original commitment to a smartphone-only app. They say the investigators didn’t ask about the technology issues in the lawsuit and focused instead on Bloch’s management style, Eko’s work culture and internal disputes that might be brewing beneath the surface. “She doesn’t like this, but I keep saying we’re two old dogs who have a new trick,” Mr. Katzenberg said at the time. Quibi, the short-form video streaming service founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, will shut down.