Roku In Talks To Buy Shows From Failed Streaming Service Quibi

While the demise of the short-form video service Quibi wasn't a big surprise to anyone who has followed the misfortunes of the company since it launched in April last year, it did leave the question of what will happen to its content. Quibi produced a wide variety of series during its short lifetime, all of which became unavailable when the service was officially shut down in December. It's now been reported that Roku is negotiating to buy the rights to this content.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Quibi is in "advanced talks" with Roku to sell the streaming rights to its catalog. If the deal goes through, Roku will release the shows to its free, ad-supported Roku Channel. Neither Roku or Quibi have commented on this report.

Quibi announced that it was shutting down in October, and the app stopped functioning at the start of December. At that time, a statement from the company said that it didn't know what would happen to its original shows, which include horror anthology 50 States of Fright, the thriller Most Dangerous Game, the reboot of Reno 911, and a wide variety of reality programming.

Quibi was initially hailed by co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg as a revolutionary new combatant in the streaming wars, with its emphasis on short-form content specifically geared for mobile devices. But as Katzenberg explained in a call to investors in September, he was forced to shut down the business due to flagging viewer numbers, disappointing download numbers, and also an ongoing lawsuit from technology firm Eko over the ownership of the company's streaming technology.

To find out what platforms GameSpot did enjoy using in 2020, check out our guide to the best streaming services of 2020.