Don't blame Quibi's woes on coronavirus -- or its dumb name

The New Republic

"Quibi is a pure product of VC logic," Alex Shephard says of Quibi's problems, pointing out that "the blinkered logic of venture capital is written all over the new streaming service." He adds: "Some have blamed Quibi’s failure on its name, which is terrible in a way that is almost transcendent. But Netflix, it should be said, also has a dumb name. Quibi is certainly not helped by the fact that it is mobile-only at a time when most of us are stuck at home with access to larger screens. Still, Quibi’s problems run much deeper. For one, people are not starved for content on their commute. Podcasts, most of which are longer than 20 minutes, are exceedingly popular. It is also possible to watch television on the subway and simply pause it when you have to get out at your stop. And while this may come as a shock to the older members of the chattering classes, there isn’t anything wrong with the attention spans of millennials specifically. Friends, the most traditional of traditional sitcoms, has proven to be exceedingly popular among that demographic. Younger people aren’t looking for shorter content. They’re struggling with a glut of content of all kinds." ALSO: Quibi's ego is the problem, not coronavirus.