Los Angeles, California-based Quibi, a short-form entertainment service for mobile devices headed by former Disney honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg and former HP CEO Meg Whitman, announced that it is shutting down all operations and attempting to sell the company's intellectual property.
It is unknown how many staffers face layoffs, but many were upset at the large up-front payments to name-talent while they were accepting pay cuts to preserve their jobs.
In spite of the legendary founders, almost $2 billion in venture capital, and a roster of A-list talent, the streaming service failed to attract a viable audience.
According to Whitman, "While we have enough capital to continue operating for a significant period of time, we made the difficult decision to wind down the business, return cash to our shareholders, and say goodbye to our talented colleagues with grace. We continue to believe that there is an attractive market for premium, short-form content. Over the coming months, we will be working hard to find buyers for these valuable assets who can leverage them to their full potential. All that is left now is to offer a profound apology for disappointing you and, ultimately, for letting you down.
Considering the amount of user-generated, high-quality content on Google's YouTube and the streaming products from Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon's Prime Video, it is a stunning failure of the company's business plan.
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?