Quibi, the upcoming mobile video service founded by media mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, has joined forces with T-Mobile, which will serve as its exclusive telecommunications launch partner.
Accordingly, Quibi will be offered as part of a T-Mobile package upon its launch in April — though it’s worth noting that consumers of any carrier will be able to subscribe to Quibi. T-Mobile counts 83.1 million customers, and is in the process of a merger with Sprint, The Los Angeles Times reports. The specifics of the pact between Quibi and T-Mobile — including whether Quibi will arrive as a pre-installed app on T-Mobile phones or whether customers will receive a discounted subscriptions (Quibi will be priced at $5 per month for an ad-supported version and $8 for an ad-free subscription) — have yet to be unveiled.
“Quibi will deliver premium video content for millennials on a technology platform that is built exclusively for mobile, so a telecommunications partner like T-Mobile, with their broad coverage today and impressive 5G road map, is the perfect fit,” Quibi CEO Meg Whitman told the Times in a statement.
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“Of course Quibi and T-Mobile are working together — we’re two mobile-centric disruptors committed to challenging the status quo and giving customers incredible experiences,” added T-Mobile CEO John Legere.
Telecommunications companies have long had their eyes on the content business AT&T, for instance, formed WarnerMedia after acquiring Time Warner for a staggering $85 billion last year, and will soon launch its own streaming service called HBO Max. And fellow telecom goliath Verizon launched its own ad-supported video platform, Go90, back in 2015, though that venture has since been shuttered.
Quibi, for its part, has raised $1 billion in venture funding to date, which it has harnessed to develop a star-studded content slate. The company will reportedly raise an additional $500 million this fall. Shows that are slated to live on the platform include the Sophie Turner-starrer Survive, an NBC news program, a Darren Criss project, the BBC nature series Fierce Queens, a Liam Hemsworth thriller, and more.
