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Short Form Video Service Quibi Shutting Down
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This turned out longer than expected...I'll put it on LinkedIn. 😂
I moved to LA seeing the convergence of tech and the entertainment Industry in 2009 (both are big interests of mine). The entertainment industry has been ultra-focused on pointing its finger at YouTube, IG, etc as reasons for ratings slumps. YouTube is not the problem (neither is Netflix).
Kids Content
Disney Channel tried throwing short content onto Disney Channel YEARS ago when YouTube first started growing (ie. As the Bell Rings). Nickelodeon tried taking Fred from YouTube and making a series (Marvin the Martian). Lessons from the early attempts fell on deaf ears. Disney Channel and Nick aren't doing well (outside of cartoons and junior content) because they're not producing the same, true and tested content that worked for 2 decades. I've pitched shows. I've heard from top creators (with more experience than me) from top shows who have pitched. Disney and Nick are not buying what's worked. They're trying to compete with YT, cover themselves when shows don't do well and jumping randomly at "new directions." We keep hearing about the market for new content. The concepts are out there, but nobody's buying.
Short Form, Big Budget
Quibi has once again demonstrated that you cannot throw money and big names at everything. This happened a few years ago with MCNs (Multi-Channel Networks). I watched (and struggled) as the entertainment industry dumped boatloads into MCNs that were predictably not going to be successful. MCN execs made their money. The views were just not there to support "Hollywood-levels" of investment.
Views are not there to support the amount of money Quibi was taking in for its high-budget content. The premise that people will watch scripted shows in small bites during work-commutes is a misnomer. Yes, people will watch Shane Dawson or clips from SNL on the way to work. No, people will still not watch a big-budget TV series broken down into 5 or 10 minute chunks on the way to work. It just...doesn't...work!
Entertainment Industry's Disconnect
The entertainment Industry continues to struggle with 2 major issues that it just will not wrap its head around: 1) authenticity and 2) just because short form series work on YouTube (or Instagram...or TikTok), doesn't mean it will work outside of those platforms. There are multiple reasons (don't want to get into them all), but the most obvious...do YOU want to spend 2-3 minutes finding a 5 minute episode of a series on your Apple TV, Roku, etc?
Viewers identify with who they watch on YouTube largely because of authenticity. You are making a connection with a real person and forming a rapport-of kinds. They can engage with the real person on social media or just keep up with what they're doing. Alternatively, viewers connect with characters when watching a TV or movie. That takes time, story and great writing to develop. The connection generally cannot be formed in 5 minute bites. It takes time to re-engage each time you turn on an episode, let alone recognize a story arc.
Jeffrey Katzenberg has been behind some of the biggest and most beloved DreamWorks and Disney films of all time. He knows how important story is to a project. In my opinion, the disconnect is understanding that the audience is just not there to take in a great story chopped up in tiny segments that need to be individually clicked on. Anyone up for the first half of the opening act from Beauty and the Beast?
I moved to LA seeing the convergence of tech and the entertainment Industry in 2009 (both are big interests of mine). The entertainment industry has been ultra-focused on pointing its finger at YouTube, IG, etc as reasons for ratings slumps. YouTube is not the problem (neither is Netflix).
Kids Content
Disney Channel tried throwing short content onto Disney Channel YEARS ago when YouTube first started growing (ie. As the Bell Rings). Nickelodeon tried taking Fred from YouTube and making a series (Marvin the Martian). Lessons from the early attempts fell on deaf ears. Disney Channel and Nick aren't doing well (outside of cartoons and junior content) because they're not producing the same, true and tested content that worked for 2 decades. I've pitched shows. I've heard from top creators (with more experience than me) from top shows who have pitched. Disney and Nick are not buying what's worked. They're trying to compete with YT, cover themselves when shows don't do well and jumping randomly at "new directions." We keep hearing about the market for new content. The concepts are out there, but nobody's buying.
Short Form, Big Budget
Quibi has once again demonstrated that you cannot throw money and big names at everything. This happened a few years ago with MCNs (Multi-Channel Networks). I watched (and struggled) as the entertainment industry dumped boatloads into MCNs that were predictably not going to be successful. MCN execs made their money. The views were just not there to support "Hollywood-levels" of investment.
Views are not there to support the amount of money Quibi was taking in for its high-budget content. The premise that people will watch scripted shows in small bites during work-commutes is a misnomer. Yes, people will watch Shane Dawson or clips from SNL on the way to work. No, people will still not watch a big-budget TV series broken down into 5 or 10 minute chunks on the way to work. It just...doesn't...work!
Entertainment Industry's Disconnect
The entertainment Industry continues to struggle with 2 major issues that it just will not wrap its head around: 1) authenticity and 2) just because short form series work on YouTube (or Instagram...or TikTok), doesn't mean it will work outside of those platforms. There are multiple reasons (don't want to get into them all), but the most obvious...do YOU want to spend 2-3 minutes finding a 5 minute episode of a series on your Apple TV, Roku, etc?
Viewers identify with who they watch on YouTube largely because of authenticity. You are making a connection with a real person and forming a rapport-of kinds. They can engage with the real person on social media or just keep up with what they're doing. Alternatively, viewers connect with characters when watching a TV or movie. That takes time, story and great writing to develop. The connection generally cannot be formed in 5 minute bites. It takes time to re-engage each time you turn on an episode, let alone recognize a story arc.
Jeffrey Katzenberg has been behind some of the biggest and most beloved DreamWorks and Disney films of all time. He knows how important story is to a project. In my opinion, the disconnect is understanding that the audience is just not there to take in a great story chopped up in tiny segments that need to be individually clicked on. Anyone up for the first half of the opening act from Beauty and the Beast?
Attachments
This was a silly idea. After the 2007 writers' strike, the best writers ditched film for TV, and the golden age of television was born. Turns out people like their characters developed, connected, well marinated in the shows juices. Throw in some pandemic & social distancing, and we've got longing for deeper bonds; even make believe bonds will do until this is over. Quibi and their <10 minute character developments had no chance this year.
I would think at some point, there would be a content limit on what the population is willing to suck up. I still find it a stretch that Apple TV+ is going to survive long term, but Apple can handle it because of other sources of revenue. But Quibi was a one trick pony that targeted people riding various forms of transportation too and from work, which now that everyone is working at home, seems pointless. No wonder they are cutting the cord so quickly, because the world changed in March 2020, they lost their target market.
But regardless... I like about 1 show on Netflix, about 2 shows on Apple TV+, 1 show on HBO, 1 on BBC, 2 on CBSAllAccess... and I don't have a CableTV subscription. I could do without all those shows. More content just seems silly.
But regardless... I like about 1 show on Netflix, about 2 shows on Apple TV+, 1 show on HBO, 1 on BBC, 2 on CBSAllAccess... and I don't have a CableTV subscription. I could do without all those shows. More content just seems silly.
This. The fact that they launched the Apple TV app just yesterday tells you that most of the employees were probably blindsided by this news. Which makes Katzenberg and Whitman look even worse when you consider that those employees likely gave up stable jobs elsewhere in the industry based on their faith in the senior executives and whatever pitch was made to them in terms of equity, growth, etc. Lawsuits to follow, probably.
I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, but at least I can say I've never blown through $1 Billion in cash in 6 months.
Meg Whitman is on a roll...wonder what company will get her next kiss of death?
you’re still young
this is what venture capitalists do. Off course they hope to make the next smash hit thing. But that only works a few times out of a lot.
or maybe they hoped (it seems to be a common businessmodel) to be interesting enough to be snatched up by some of the big companies and recoup their investments that way. That also does works in a few cases, but not all.
It seemingly worked for Craig McCaw and company with Clearw're.
Clearwire - Wikipedia
Indeed. The NY Times listed Whitman in 2008 as among those likely to become the first woman president. Those were the days! She made a ton of money running eBay back in the early 2000s, then left to run for Governor of California in 2010. She spent $144 million of her own money only to lose to Jerry Brown by 13 points. She then went on to Hewlett Packard and turned its profits into losses. While she was CEO of HP, the company made one of the worst tech acquisitions of all time, buying software maker Autonomy for $11 billion. HP wrote down the value of the purchase by $8.8 billion a year later. Unreal! And now Quibi, which closed its doors after 6 months, and losing billions of dollars and hundreds of jobs in the process. Whitman should be radioactive persona non-grata to any business venture.. Run away, run away!
I never understood the whole TLDR video plan Verizons Go90 failed after AT&T’s full screen, or Hulu’s founder TLDR service called vessel. you cant get much of a story in a 5 minute clip and if your dying to watch a 5 minute video....well isnt that what you tube is for? yeah im sure there are a lot of TLDR people out there But hey its only failed spectacularly 4 times so come on investers lets try a 5 time!