Quibi CEO Meg Whitman calls launch “slightly below” par

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Meg Whitman says the initial performance of the streaming service Quibi has come in slightly under expectations.

The Quibi CEO said the performance was largely due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an interview with Deadline.

Whitman is optimistic as North America gradually emerges from lockdown.

Whitman told Deadline, “We were designed for a different use case, no question about it, but we’re pretty pleased about where we are.”

Quibi says since April 6, it has 3.5 million downloads and 1.3 million active users.

First year expectations for the short-form video service were for 7 million subscribers and $250 million in subscriber revenue.

Whitman said the company has “ample resources” from its total funding to date of $1.8 billion.

Most initial subscribers have reportedly gone with the $5-a-month, ad-supported version of the service.

Whitman said Quibi will make a renewed pitch to advertisers this fall in order to re-engage Madison Avenue.

That might be a tall order given the sudden economic downturn.