Top exec at Quibi exits in shake-up

A senior executive has left Jeffrey Katzenberg’s much-hyped nascent shortform video venture Quibi as the company restructures before its April, 2020 launch.

Tim Connolly

Head of partnerships and distribution Tim Connolly has exited as part of a reorganisation at the company. The advertising partnerships team will now report to CEO Meg Whitman.

There is a lot of buzz around the Hollywood start-up, which was founded by former Disney chairman Katzenberg and Whitman.

The streaming platform will offer shorter videos for smaller, portable screens. It will be a subscription service charging US$4.99 per month with pre-rolling ads or US$7.99 without ads.

Hired in December, Connolly was a high-profile recruit for Quibi where he reportedly secured around US$100m in upfront ad deals during his short time at the company.

Prior to Quibi, he was senior VP of partnerships and distribution at US SVoD service Hulu. He also worked at Disney as VP digital distribution and new product development for seven years until 2014.

He left on amicable terms, according to Business Insider, which first reported the news.

Quibi has been rapidly recruiting staff and commissioning an array of content from big-name producers since Katzenburg unveiled his plans last year. In the past week alone, the firm posted 48 new job vacancies on LinkedIn and has an estimated content budget for its first year in the region of US$1bn.

Companies to have invested in Quibi include ITV, Disney, Entertainment One, Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Viacom and WarnerMedia.