Four scripted series and a host of unscripted and 'Daily Essentials' content will be featured when the streaming platform debuts April 6.
Shortform streamer Quibi has set its initial lineup of shows for its April 6 launch — and it's a long list.
The mobile-centric platform will debut with 50 shows, tilted heavily toward unscripted content and what it calls "Daily Essentials" — short news and sports programs, talk shows and advice shows. It has four scripted shows — or "Movies in Chapters," as each will have a total run time roughly equivalent to a feature film, with episodes running under 10 minutes apiece.
Founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg, Quibi plans to launch 175 shows and 8,500 separate pieces of content during its first year. That works out to about three hours of content per day. Users will pay $5 per month for a version of the service with advertising or $8 monthly for an ad-free version. Quibi is offering a 90-day free trial to users who sign up before launch.
The company has raised $1.75 billion in funding to date. Users will be able to watch Quibi programming in either portrait or landscape mode on their phones, with a technology called Turnstyle enabling seamless transitions if a user turns their phone from horizontal to vertical or vice versa.
