VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Quibi CEO Meg Whitman Explains Why Their App Is Right For These Pandemic Times

Quibi, a new streaming platform full of original short-form content meant to be viewed on the go, launched this week, and uInterview sat down for a video chat with its CEO, Meg Whitman.

“We have Hollywood quality content that is made for your mobile phone,” Whitman explained. In fact, Quibi can only be viewed on the app on your phone, and it appears full-screen whether you hold your phone in landscape or portrait mode.

“Our content is in chapters that are 10 minutes or less, so you might see a full-length movie, but it would be told in 15, 10-minute chapters,” she said. The company has been promoting some of these shows on social media, like Chrissy’s Court, hosted by Chrissy Teigen, and a revival of the prank show Punk’d, hosted by Chance The Rapper.

Whitman said some of her favorite shows are Survive, a romantic story starring Sophie Turner and Corey Hawkins; The Most Dangerous Game, a thriller starring Liam Hemsworth and Christoph Waltz; and I Promise, a documentary about the school LeBron James created for low-income children. Quibi hosts a variety of content, that also includes news, weather, and talk shows.

“I think people have lots of in-between moments 10 minutes here or there where they could grab a quick bite of content, but sometimes they don’t have an hour or an hour and a half to embark on an entire show,” she said.

Although Quibi seems like an invention for a world before social distancing, where people could watch clips during their commute or online at the coffee shop, Whitman argued that Quibi can still serve as entertainment for people spending most of their time at home.

“Even in these times when we’re all quarantined at home, think about it, you might watch a Quibi between Zoom calls,” Whitman said. “If you’re homeschooling your kids you might catch a break while they’re doing something else. At night when you’re ready to go to bed you might want to just watch a couple of Quibis.”

Whitman said the company debated premiering their app in the middle of a pandemic, but ultimately said they had an important job to do.

“We said, ‘You know what, we’re not medical personnel, we’re not first responders — what we are is entertainers.’ And we said, ‘Well maybe we can bring a little joy and levity and fun to people’s otherwise challenging lives right now. So we said ‘Let’s go!'” Whitman said.

The Quibi app is available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.