Quibi has added another half a million viewers in the last two days, with the new mobile-only streaming app hitting 830,000 subscribers overall by the third day following its release, according to data shared by Sensor Tower on Thursday.
The service, led by founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman, had pulled in 300,000 subscribers on Monday, its launch day, according to Sensor Tower. Quibi, which climbed into the top three free apps on Apple’s App Store on Monday, was the 20th most popular free app on the App Store as of early Thursday afternoon. On Google Play, Quibi was ranked sixth on Thursday afternoon.
“We are really excited about the market reception during our first three days since launch,” a Quibi spokesperson told TheWrap. “We were also pleased by our rankings in both the Google Play Store and App Store. However, we are going to refrain from commenting about downloads and trials during this initial 90-day free trial period.”
Quibi is looking to separate itself from an increasingly crowded streaming market by focusing on what it calls “quick bites,” where its shows and movies are released in episodes no longer than 10 minutes. The app debuted on Monday with shows from Chrissy Teigen, LeBron James and Will Forte, among others, as well as “Most Dangerous Game,” a movie starring Christoph Waltz and Liam Hemsworth. Quibi is currently offering a free 90-day free trial, and will cost $4.99 for ad-supported and $7.99 for ad-free streaming after that.
Sensor Tower pointed out Disney+, which debuted in November, pulled in 4 million subscribers in its first 24 hours. While some analysts told TheWrap they would’ve liked to see Quibi get off to a faster start, others said it was too early to judge the app’s success — especially in comparison to Disney.
Katzenberg, in an interview with TheWrap earlier this year, sounded like a man who wasn’t particularly worried about the app’s early performance. “We’re in a marathon, not a sprint,” Katzenberg said. “Disney+ is a 100-year brand with the most valued and important generational IP on Earth, ever. We’re a different use case, and we don’t have the same brand recognition. So we don’t think we’ll take off like a rocketship. We think it’s something we build over the course of several years.”
Quibi has raised $1.75 billion to date, with its investors including Disney and WarnerMedia. You can read a full review of Quibi’s app and content here.