Roku Reportedly in Talks to Acquire Rights to Quibi’s Library

The ill-fated mobile-only streaming platform Quibi may officially be shuttered, but its vast library of short-form content may live to see another day. After finally reaching a deal with WarnerMedia to bring HBO Max to its platform, Roku is reportedly looking to give customers even more viewing options by acquiring the rights to Quibi’s library, that according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the outlet reported Sunday that Quibi, the startup led by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, is in “advanced talks” with Roku to sell its library of content. Specific details of the deal, as well as financial terms, haven’t been revealed, and representatives for both Roku and Quibi did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment. Should the deal proceed and be reached, Roku would add the short-form original series its free, ad-supported Roku Channel, with WSJ noting the company is “pushing aggressively into content” with its app, and “a deal with Quibi would give Roku a roster of exclusive programming.”

It is unclear which shows in Quibi’s library would be part of the deal. The platform hosted series with episodes less than 10 minutes in length, with its library including titles such as Reno 911, Most Dangerous Game, Flipped, Survive, Dummy, and many others. Those titles boasted plenty of Hollywood A-listers, such as Anna Kendrick, Liam Hemsworth, Christoph Waltz, Sophie Turner, Guillermo del Toro, Steven Spielberg, Reese Witherspoon, among others.

After being founded in Los Angeles as NewTV back in August 2018, the streaming service officially launched as Quibi in April 2020 with its selling point being “quick bites” of content for mobile devices only. The service, however, did not gain the traction necessary to sustain it, and in October, Quibi announced that it would be shutting down.

“Quibi is not succeeding. Likely for one of two reasons: because the idea itself wasn’t strong enough to justify a standalone streaming service or because of our timing,” the statement read in part. “Unfortunately, we will never know but we suspect it’s been a combination of the two… All that is left now is to offer a profound apology for disappointing you and, ultimately, for letting you down.”

At the time, the streamer said it was unsure “if the Quibi content will be available anywhere after our last day of service.” Although currently in talks with Roku, WSJ notes “the deal talks could still fall apart.”