Quibi exec blames "everything that has gone wrong" with its launch on the pandemic

By Britt Hayes | May 12, 2020 | 3:59pm

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Quibi exec blames "everything that has gone wrong" with its launch on the pandemic

Photo: Daniel Boczarski

The pandemic has become such a convenient scapegoat for those who are, shall we say, creatively-challenged in the excuse department. In the Before Times, we often had to grasp at excuses—for failing to respond to texts, for skipping a birthday party, for being a year behind on car registration, or for an underperforming and ill-conceived business model. But thanks to the pandemic, coming up with an excuse is as easy as one, two, three! Don’t take our word for it—listen to this example from Quibi executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, who tells the New York Times that he blames “everything that has gone wrong” with the launch of the mobile streaming platform on the coronavirus pandemic.

See, Quibi’s whole purpose is to entertain people “on the go” with short, seven-to-10 minute episodes—or “quick bites”—of content. But most people are not on the go right now, and since Quibi is designed specifically for the mobile experience and not a television screen, its entire existence has been rendered useless—to everyone except for its 1.3 million active users, per Deadline’s interview with Meg Whitman. The Quibi CEO (what a title) is more optimistic than Katzenberg, and though she admits that the pandemic hasn’t been helpful to growing the active user base, Whitman says it will be “helpful” when the country begins to re-open (as it already is, against the advice of many people with relevant college degrees). Quibi! What a concept!