Quibi, the highly-anticipated short-form video service from Jeffrey Katzenberg has already booked $100 million in advertising ahead of its debut in April 2020, the company announced on Wednesday in Cannes.
Initial sponsors of the service include Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Walmart, Progressive and Google.
Quibi, which stands for quick bites, intends to sell another $50 million in ad inventory in its first year. The service, led by former Hewlett-Packard and eBay CEO Meg Whitman, is designed to deliver programming on mobile devices and is geared toward a younger, millennial audience.
“Quibi is exactly the kind of breakthrough platform that P&G brands want to work with to reinvent advertising,” Marc Pritchard, chief brand officer, P&G, said in a statement. “Quibi creates a new-to-the-world content and ad experience which is better for the consumers we serve, and P&G brands are thrilled to be among the first launch and advertiser partners.”
Quibi has already landed programming deals with several big-name producers, directors and actors, including Steven Spielberg, Guillermo del Toro and Jennifer Lopez.
The company promises early sponsors will not only have category exclusivity, but will be involved in shaping Quibi’s ad platform. At launch, ads on Quibi will not be skippable and will air as 6-, 10- and 15-second pre-roll before content.
“We are building a robust, premium technology platform from the ground up that brings together the best of Silicon Valley and Hollywood,” Whitman said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have six iconic brand launch partners who will help us create the most innovative mobile video platform for brand advertising—one that advertisers will love from the very beginning.”
Quibi subscribers can pay for an ad-free tier that costs $7.99 a month, or $4.99 with ads.