The Quibi team may have struggled to find a bad juice buy the disappointing mobile forwarding streaming service be first rapid demise in December, but it looks like they can still relocate the recently abandoned content. Per The Wall Street Journal, the billion dollar streamer is currently in “advanced discussions” with Roku, Inc. who may be looking for the in-limbo library. Some details are still vague or unavailable, such as how much the deal would cost and the availability of all the star-powered ‘quick bite’ shows the original plan had to offer (as some contracts could make the transition difficult, but not impossible, according to one source).
And while we tend to poke fun at the pursuit and its shortcomings (and come on, Jeffrey Katzenberg and his friends blew through $ 1.75 billion in a few months, they could handle some teasing), this could actually be boiling down to a pretty sweet haul for the Roku channel, which would serve as the new home for all those displaced shows. Should the two sides actually make a deal – and there’s still a chance the whole thing could fall apart, it said WSJ– then all past Quibi content would be available exclusively on Roku’s dedicated channel, which currently offers syndicated titles. And while one may not be in high demand comedy about a talking sex doll starring Anna Kendrick, there may be just enough curiosity among Roku users to tune in without paying a subscription fee.
Roku is committed to expanding its offering and with the help of its recent deals with HBO Max and NBCUniversal, it is definitely on the way. This new potential agreement with Quibi can only help matters. The big question is: how soon can we expect the Reno 911! revival popup on the device?