Quibi CEO says you'll eventually be able to watch Quibi shows on your TV, not just your smartphone
- Quibi CEO Meg Whitman said on Monday that the mobile-only streaming platform will eventually come to televisions.
- Whitman said on CNBC that Quibi was "always" intended to eventually go to TV, but that process will be expedited because of the coronavirus.
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Quibi, the streaming platform designed for "in-between moments" on smartphones, will eventually make its way to televisions, CEO Meg Whitman said on Monday.
The mobile-only streaming service, which launched earlier this month, was touted in commercials as a way to watch shows while out and about. But, as more people stay home because of the coronavirus, Quibi will expedite the ability to watch its shows on televisions.
Asked by CNBC's Sara Eisen if, "given the new realities," Quibi would be expanded to home platforms like smart TVs, Whitman said that Quibi is working to give users the ability to cast shows to their televisions, but didn't mention a possible smart TV app.
"We had always planned to be able to cast to your TV, so we're gonna see if we can accelerate that in the engineering roadmap," Whitman said. "We'll eventually get there but it was never a part of the launch. If we had known about COVID, maybe it would have been."
Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg told Vulture's Josef Adalian last summer that a Quibi app on smart TVs would be a waste of limited resources for the startup. "As soon as you go out and try to be all things to all people, you end up being nothing to anybody," he said.
A Quibi spokesperson also declined to comment to Vulture about casting capability, but Whitman told Variety earlier this month that casting would eventually come to Quibi.
Quibi did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how quickly casting could become available on the platform, or whether it has plans to provide a smart TV app because of the coronavirus.
Even as people stay home, Whitman said that people are still having "in-between moments" on their phones to use the streaming platform, which has short, 10-minute episodes of shows.