Remember Quibi? It’s been just over a month since the short-form streamer ended its too short life, having been felled in part by arriving during a pandemic, when few were in need nor in the mood for 10-minute “bites.” But there’s been one burning question: Where do the shows that did go live go next? Shows like Dummy, their reboot of The Fugitive, and their acclaimed continuation of Reno 911! currently live in limbo, in a kind of streaming oblivion. But they may have a home soon enough.
As per The Wall Street Journal, talks are happening with Roku, the much-loved smart TV app that allows easy access to the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Disney+, the Criterion Channel, and — now, finally — HBO Max. That said, the deal could still fall through. But if it doesn’t a bunch of orphans will have shelter, although presumably without the option to toggle between horizontal and vertical displays, being that Quibi content was supposed to be watched on a phone.
Quibi bowed in April of 2020, about a month into the widespread quarantine that became necessary after COVID-19 began its still out-of-control rampage across the globe. The service underperformed right out of the gate, and it didn’t get much better in the ensuing months, when people were often parked on their couch, staring at their giant TVs, afraid to go outside, much less wait in long lines. That’s where Quibi could have flourished, and maybe it would have in a different, better timeline. But at least the many who never downloaded the app will be to see if any of those shows, divvied into 10-minute “bites,” were any good.
(Via WSJ)
