LOS ANGELES — Even sitting on a plane before takeoff, Valerie Urteaga can’t help but watch Quibi. 

“It passes the time so quickly," she said. "You’re like, 'we’re there!'” 

And then when she’s arrived at her weekend away, on vacation from the summer heat of the Coachella Valley, she still finds time to watch it. While friends are still sleeping, Urteaga is up early enjoying some quiet time with her newest obsession. 

“My phone is always with me. It’s convenient. I don’t have to go into a room or setting," she said. “They are shorter little clips or series you don’t have to binge-watch, just whenever is convenient for you."

What You Need To Know

  • Quibi was created by Jeffrey Katzenberg and is led by CEO Meg Whitman

  • Quibi offers movies, reality shows, and news programs all at a maximum of 10 minutes

  • According to an analysis of the app, only 8% of people who signed up for the free trial of Quibi stayed on as subscribers

  • Since the platform hasn't taken off in the U.S., Quibi recently launched a free ad-supported version of the app in New Zealand and Australia

Quibi, which stands for quick bites, was made for quick viewing of short clips when you’re short on time. Urteaga has been eating it all up since it launched. 

Urteaga’s fascination with the app is not the norm, dot.LA Chief Correspondent Kelly O'Grady tells Spectrum News. 

“I think they were banking on all of us in line at Starbucks, in-between meetings… but then [the] pandemic hit,” O'Grady said. 

According to an analysis of the app, only 8% of people who signed up for the free trial of Quibi stayed on as subscribers. Call it perhaps a perfect storm: a saturated streaming market giving viewers loads of content and a pandemic that meant people had nothing but time on their hands. According to Kelly, there are other inherent reasons she thinks Quibi didn’t take off. 

“If I’m going to watch something on my phone, I don’t want to pay for it. If I’m going to watch highly produced content, I want to watch it on my TV. If I expect YouTube, Instagram to be free, why am I going to watch Quibi?” O'Grady said. 

Is the viewers' appetite for content as insatiable as tech leaders think? Maybe not, maybe they already have what they need. 

“Quibi was saying they're going to get all these celebs and that’s what’s going to drive it. But if I want snack-able content from Chrissy Teigen, I’m going to go to her Instagram and that’s free. It’s also authentic,” O'Grady said. 

Although the stats show consumers can’t quite seem to find room for Quibi in their lives, Urteaga sure has. 

“I’ve watched at the airport, on an airplane, in the car, at home late at night,” she said. 

And to all those who haven’t hopped on the Quibi train, Urteaga said they're missing out. To her, there's no such thing as too much content.