Yesterday, we reported that Quibi will be shutting down. Now, the mobile-first streamer, which launched just six months ago, has made the official announcement that it will end service on December 1, 2020.
“Quibi has made the difficult decision to wind down. We anticipate that the service will end streaming on or about December 1, 2020. We appreciate the support we have received from our customers and want to thank you for giving us an opportunity to entertain you,” the company shared on its website.
Founders Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman also shared an open letter to employees, investors, and partners of Quibi about the “winding down” of the business.
“Quibi was a big idea and there was no one who wanted to make a success of it more than we did. Our failure was not for lack of trying; we’ve considered and exhausted every option available to us,” the letter says.
Katzenberg and Whitman noted that the idea behind Quibi may not have been enough to justify creating a standalone streaming service, and that the timing of the launch likely caused Quibi to not succeed.
The letter ends with an apology to those who stood by the service: “All that is left now is to offer a profound apology for disappointing you and, ultimately, for letting you down. We cannot thank you enough for being there with us, and for us, every step of the way.”