Roku has acquired the content library for the now-defunct streaming service Quibi, the company announced today. The service content in an abbreviated form will appear on the Roku Channel free of charge sometime in 2021, although the company has not announced an exact date for its arrival. Roku did not reveal how much he paid for the content in his ad, but Wall Street Newspaper reports that he paid “significantly less” than $ 100 million for the programs. The deal was rumored earlier this month in a separate report from the WSJ.
Despite Quibi’s failure, its content was full of stars. Roku’s ad says that the licensed Quibi content will have stars like “Idris Elba, Kevin Hart, Liam Hemsworth, Anna Kendrick, Nicole Richie, Chrissy Teigen, Lena Waithe and many others”. More than 75 programs will be available as part of the deal, says Roku. Roku, one of the leading hardware companies in the streaming space, is trying to push more towards the software.
Purchasing Quibi’s programs and placing them exclusively on the Roku Channel (a free offer from the company) will be used to increase display time on the platform and possibly increase the amount of ad stock that Roku can sell. As competition in the hardware space increases, finding new legs over the competition – in this case, original content – is a must.
Although Quibi’s content was designed primarily to be consumed on mobile devices, it was previously possible to watch its content on TVs thanks to native apps launched for Apple TV, Android TV and Fire TV, although months after the service’s launch. Quibi content can also be streamed to compatible TVs via AirPlay and Chromecast. The Roku website notes that the Roku Channel is available on Roku players, on smart TVs, mobile apps and on the web.
Quibi content will be exclusive to Roku for the same two-year exclusivity window originally agreed with content creators, the WSJ notes, after which Roku will retain the right to show the content until 2027. However, Roku will have to present the programs in their original form and will not be able to chain several short episodes to create the content of a more traditional length.
The agreement with Roku came after Quibi officially announced that it was closing in October, after a period of just over six months. The app failed for a number of reasons, despite having managed to raise $ 1.75 billion in funding before its launch, largely thanks to the hype and negotiations of its high-profile leadership, former HP executive Meg Whitman and the former president of Disney and film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Disclosure: Vox Media has an agreement with Quibi to produce a program, and there were initial talks about a Border show too.
Update on January 8, 10:43 ET: Updated with the amount Roku allegedly paid for the shows and more details of the deal.