Revisiting Jeffrey Katzenberg on Quibi

The streaming service Quibi is shutting down just six months after it launched. This week, The Business brings a mega banter on its demise and then revisits an April interview with Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Katzenberg is an eternal optimist, and Quibi is far from his first roll of the dice. He says that 50 years ago, he became a gambler, learning to count cards while working for the mayor in New York City. His skills reportedly got him banned from several casinos.

Katzenberg says he brought this same mentality to Quibi, though the picture looked bleak for him even in April after the pandemic started. He talks about why he went ahead with the launch during COVID-19, which he now blames for the service’s permanent shutdown. He also explains why he was so sure at the time that “it’s not about how we do in the first six months.”