M+E Daily

Whip Media Group has set out to discover if consumers are ready for Quibi, the newly launched paid streaming service that aims to capitalize on the popularity of short-form video content.

With mobile video consumption continuing to blow up — YouTube is at more than two billion users, and TikTok counts more than 500 million for its active base — the report (“The Quest of Quibi”) sees Quibi entering the market with a vastly different approach compared to short-form predecessors and rivals.

“First, the service will prioritize the smartphone as the primary viewing experience, with content optimized for that device,” the report reads. “Second, it will showcase talent-centric content which will include ‘movies in chapters’ (longer, scripted stories broken into chapters that are between seven and 10 minutes long), as well as unscripted shows, documentaries and daily hits of news/entertainment/inspiration.

“And finally, it will be packaged as a paid service with pricing based on ads/no ads subscription tiers.”

With mobile video consumption trending highest among younger consumer, Whip Media’s report found that in order for Quibi to survive, it needs to stand out as yet another streaming option, and its spending of more than $1.5 billion to create a new viewing experience category will need to cover enough to captivate the audience and drive subscriptions with a variety of programming and A-list talent.

“The results revealed that, once people understand the Quibi offering, they’re substantially more likely to subscribe,” the report reads. “And interestingly, it is not the short format or mobile experience that people are drawn to most, but rather the variety of programming and the A-list talent. It’s all about the content.”

In the study, nearly a quarter (24%) of respondents indicated they had heard of Quibi, and at its outset, 13% of respondents said they would be likely or very likely to subscribe, compared to 10% for Peacock and 24% for HBO Max.

“Consumers currently subscribe to an average of four paid streaming services and indicate they are likely to subscribe to one additional paid service in the coming year, according to the results of the study,” the report reads. “This suggests that, while there is still room for growth, it is a crowded market and people are approaching their maximum number of streaming subscriptions.”

Curiosity (26%), variety of content (23%) and talent (23%) were the most often cited factors for why new consumers would subscribe to the service, and from a generational perspective, drivers of interest diverged significantly, with millennials and Gen Z being much higher users of mobile and online video, and more curious about the service than Gen X.

“While consumers will pay for multiple streaming services, they’re becoming weary of paying for too many services,” the report reads. “Quibi has announced it will offer both an ad-supported and fully-paid subscription model, and consumers were asked which they would prefer: either $5-a-month with ads or the $8-a-month without ads.”

A majority of respondents (57%) chose the cheaper ad-supported model versus 43% for the ad-free option.