Roku acquired all of the shows from the short-lived streaming service Quibi at the turn of the year, and today, the streaming platform announced that the shows will be rebranded as Roku Originals under The Roku Channel when they launch later this year.
If you have no idea what Quibi was, that's totally understandable. It was a streaming service that featured predominantly short-form content that was meant to be enjoyed on the go using your phone. Not only was it short in length, a lot of the content was also designed to be viewed in portrait orientation, so users could just hold the phone as they normally do. The concept was certainly unique, but it didn't gain much traction, and just a few months after it launched in April last year, it was reported to be preparing to shut down.
Despite its seeming lack of popularity, some users praised the content on the platform, so the acquisition by Roku was a good thing for fans. Under the new Roku Originals branding, these shows can live on a platform that people are already using. Roku is promising over 75 Roku Originals this year, including a dozen of series that have yet to be released.
As to when that will actually happen, though, that's still a mystery. Roku plans to announce more details on the launch of Roku Originals at some point in May, so we'll have to wait for that. The company also announced that Roku Originals will be the brand used for future original content on The Roku Channel, suggesting Roku could get more serious about producing its own shows. and movies.
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