Quibi, the streaming service with a star-studded lineup of bite-sized shows made for smartphones, has made its mobile apps available for preorder.
iPhone and Android users can now sign up to download the app from the Apple and Google Play stores ahead of the service’s April 6 launch. Registering for a download is free, but a Quibi subscription will cost $4.99 a month with some ads or $7.99 a month without ads after a two-week free trial.
Quibi — short for “quick bites” — has not formally announced the preorder phase, but model Chrissy Teigen broke the news to her millions of Twitter followers on Jan. 30. She’s slated to host a courtroom reality show for the platform called “Chrissy’s Court.”
Teigen is one of several celebrities who have signed on to star in Quibi’s short-form shows with episodes lasting just six to 10 minutes.
Other titles include a reboot of the prank show “Punk’d” hosted by Chance the Rapper, a talk show helmed by singer Demi Lovato, a revival of the police sitcom “Reno 911!” and a new comedy series starring Kevin Hart and John Travolta.
Led by ex-Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg and former HP CEO Meg Whitman, Quibi has raised more than $1 billion from funders including Viacom, 21st Century Fox and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.
The service’s content will be made to be watched on mobile phones, with the screen turned either horizontally or vertically, its website shows.
“This next mobile era in entertainment will be defined not just by incredible content, but by the platform through which that content is delivered,” Katzenberg said at last month’s CES trade show in Las Vegas.
Quibi’s entry into the streaming wars will come the same month as Peacock, NBCUniversal’s new service that will boast original content and beloved titles such as “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation.” Peacock will be free to watch with ads, but subscribers can pay to get rid of them.
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