Roku Picks Up Quibi Content To Stream For Free
If you’re someone who has access to The Roku Channel, we have some good news for you! Roku has acquired nearly the entire back catalogue of shows from failed streaming service Quibi to stream for free.
For those of you thinking “who did what now?..” I’ll try and explain…
Roku is known for set-top boxes and sticks which turn your ordinary tv into a smart tv. Whilst some TVs have smart functionality built-in, they don’t always have apps for every streaming service. For example, my TV doesn’t have the Apple TV+ app natively, however, I can get it on Roku, which is a lot cheaper than forking out for a full-blown Apple TV box. It also runs NOW TV, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+, Starzplay, alongside a host of other paid streaming services, and over 150 free streaming services, all in one place.
Quibi was a streaming service whose unique selling point was that is was designed for “quick bites” of stories, meaning each episode of a show was around 10 mins long. The theory was people could watch it on their phone when they have a bit of downtime waiting for a bus, or on their lunch break… Unfortunately, they decided to launch it in the middle of a global pandemic, when everyone was stuck at home and not “out and about”, and it failed after just 7 months… However, it did have some really great tv on the platform including ‘Most Dangerous Game’ starring Liam Hemsworth and Christoph Waltz, ‘Survive’ starring Sophie Turner & Corey Hawkins, a new version of ‘The Fugitive’ starring Boyd Holbrook & Kiefer Sutherland, and ‘#FreeRayshawn’ starring Laurence Fishburne which took home 2 Emmys. The content itself was never the issue, so it was a shame if the library of shows would be lost into the ether.
Thankfully, Roku has now stepped in and bought the entire Qubi library (minus some of the daily news shows), and will be releasing them all under The Roku Channel to people with their set-top boxes and sticks. They will run with advertising but will be released for free.
EDIT: As a number of people have pointed out, The Roku Channel App is also available on NOW TV and Sky Q, meaning this content should also land for customers on those platforms too!
“Today’s announcement marks a rare opportunity to acquire compelling original content that features some of the biggest names in entertainment,” commented Roku’s vice president of programming Rob Holmes in a statement. “We’re excited to make this content available to our users in The Roku Channel through an ad-supported model. We are also thrilled to welcome the incredible studios and talented individuals who brought these stories to life and showcase them to our tens of millions of users.”
If you’re interested in picking up a Roku TV Stick, just follow this link.
