The video service Quibi, started with investments of billions, gives up after only half a year. The decision was made to cease operations and to repay the remaining money to the investors, the founders Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman announced on Wednesday. Quibi started with the promise to bring together Hollywood and new technologies from Silicon Valley. Katzenberg was once the head of Disney Studios, among other things, and Whitman made the Ebay trading platform successful.

The concept Quibi was to deliver professionally produced videos in five to ten minute clips exclusively for smartphone users. Katzenberg had already blamed the corona crisis for the weak start of the service in May – because people did not spend as much time on the go with their smartphones as before.

Probably 1, 4 billion dollars gone Of the originally collected 1, 75 billion dollars are still 350 Millions left to be repaid, the Wall Street Journal reported after a conference call between the Quibi top and investors. Among the donors were Hollywood heavyweights like Disney and NBCUniversal.

Katzenberg and Whitman did not mention any amounts in a blog entry on Quibi. You will never know for sure whether the idea behind Quibi wasn’t good enough or whether you started the service at the wrong time, they said. “We suspect it was a combination of both.”

The founders were so convinced of the concept that they did not even plan to transfer the videos to the television. That was then made up for with a delay. Likewise, Quibi initially missed sharing