iWorld
Where’s Quibi headed for in the OTT world?
MUMBAI: The streaming video landscape continues to fragment in 2020, as a growing number of streaming services join the fight for subscribers and users within an already competitive space. As a result, the global number of SVoD subscriptions is estimated to exceed 1 billion by mid-2020. Other streaming video services across social media players, esports and AVoD are also expected to show impressive growth.
The subscription streaming market has been further amplified by the stay-at-home lockdown period, which is not only encouraging a rise in TV viewing but also a change in behaviour, as gaps in live TV scheduling, particularly sports, encourage consumers to look elsewhere for entertainment alternatives. Beyond SVoD, this is also expected to fuel uptake of premium AVoD services such as Pluto TV. According to Futuresource’s Living with Digital consumer research, at the end of 2019, one in seven American households were active monthly users of Pluto TV, with Tubi just a little lower.
Quibi is a platform that sees a potentially rich corner for targeting millennial audiences with mobile-specific content. As the name indicates, ‘quick bite’ entertainment will consist of scripted and non-scripted content across a range of genres, including comedy, drama, reality and news updates. A-list creators, including Steven Speilberg, Ridley Scott and Catherine Hardwicke, are on board to produce and direct shows exclusively for the service, with Quibi’s new film-making technology ensuring a seamless experience, whether viewing in portrait or landscape.
Its launch during lockdown presents itself as a double-edged sword. As mentioned, consumers now have more time to experiment with new services, but equally, solo mobile-viewing is based to fit around people’s lifestyles and “normal” routines: when arriving early to meet your friends at the bar, commuting to work or school, exercising at the gym – all of those activities that are now on hold for the foreseeable future. The marked increase in SVoD viewing on TV sets over the recent weeks ultimately comes at the expense of content viewing on mobile devices.
Another key point here is: who are Quibi’s rivals? Its unique proposition addressing mobile viewing at a monthly price means that it is not only competing with major SVoD players like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and beyond, but other free services that also focus on mobile viewing. This includes the likes of Facebook Watch, Snap Originals, IGTV, Tik-Tok and of course, YouTube. Although YouTube is the market leader for short form content worldwide, people do not only watch its content on smartphones or tablets. In fact, Futuresource’s consumer research shows that just 42 per cent of YouTube watchers in the top five Western European countries and USA use a tablet or smartphone as their main viewing device to view the service. As the quality and professionalism of content on YouTube increases, consumers are finding additional value in watching on a larger screen. This means that Quibi faces potential competition from all sides, as it looks to exploit what it has identified as a gap in the market. However, Quibi has recently announced that it will enable casting to compatible TVs in May.
Quibi launches with a free 90-day trial, a longer period than currently offered by Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV or Disney+. This is highly unusual for such a service launch, and its major challenge will be converting these to paying subscribers. While the trial provides a valuable period to garner user behaviour and shape the future direction of the service, will most users have exhausted the content that interests them by the time the trial expires?
Quibi will be judged on both the quality and originality of the content it provides, benchmarked against the key SVoD and AVoD players as mentioned above. Whether the service can command the attention it needs in a considerably fragmented market remains to be seen.
The author is principal analyst at Futuresource Consulting
iWorld
Why Peaky Blinders is one of television’s biggest hits that still deserves more attention
Six seasons, multiple awards and the release of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man bring the Shelby saga back into the spotlight
In the crowded universe of streaming content, only a handful of shows manage to leave a lasting cultural footprint. Peaky Blinders is overwhelmingly considered one of the biggest global hits of the past decade. Yet many viewers still haven’t fully explored the dark, gripping world of the Shelby family.
Originally produced for the UK’s BBC and later finding a massive global audience through Netflix, the series quietly grew from a British period drama into a worldwide streaming phenomenon.
Created by Steven Knight, the show follows the rise of the Shelby crime family in post-First World War Birmingham. What begins as a gritty street-gang story gradually expands into a sweeping narrative about ambition, politics, power and survival.
At the centre of the saga is Thomas Shelby, portrayed with extraordinary depth by Cillian Murphy. The casting of Murphy is widely regarded as perfect for the role. With piercing eyes, restrained dialogue and an almost hypnotic screen presence, he transforms Shelby into one of the most unforgettable characters in modern screen storytelling.
Murphy’s brilliance lies in his restraint. He rarely shouts or performs theatrically. Instead, a quiet stare, a calculated pause or a subtle shift in expression conveys the emotional storms within the character. Beneath the ruthless gang leader is a war veteran carrying trauma, guilt and loneliness. Murphy captures this complexity with remarkable precision, making Thomas Shelby both terrifying and deeply human.
Beyond its central performance, Peaky Blinders stands out for its unfiltered portrayal of reality. The show does not romanticise crime. Instead, it exposes the harsh social conditions of early 20th-century Britain, from poverty and class struggle to political extremism and the psychological scars left by war.
The series also presents powerful female characters who hold their own within the Shelby empire. Polly Gray, played by Helen McCrory, is the strategic backbone of the family and one of the most formidable figures in the story. Women in the series shape decisions, influence power structures and challenge the rigid social norms of the time.
Across six seasons, the narrative grows dramatically in scale. What begins in the smoky streets of Birmingham evolves into a story involving political conspiracies, fascism and international criminal networks.
The series has also earned significant critical acclaim. It won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series in 2018 and multiple National Television Awards for Best Drama, cementing its reputation as one of Britain’s most celebrated modern shows.
Another defining feature of the series is its iconic music. The show’s opening theme, Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, became instantly recognisable and widely associated with the Shelby universe. Combined with a powerful soundtrack featuring artists such as Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead, the music helped shape the show’s dark, stylish identity and became hugely popular among fans.
And the Shelby story is not over yet.
In fact, its legacy is unfolding right now. The long-awaited feature-length continuation, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, was released on March 6, 2026, bringing the Shelby universe from streaming screens to cinemas and giving fans a new chapter in the saga.
For viewers who have not yet stepped into this world, the timing could not be better.
Six gripping seasons are ready to binge on Netflix. A new film has just arrived in theatres. And at the heart of it all stands one of the most magnetic performances in modern drama by Cillian Murphy.
So if Peaky Blinders has been sitting on your watchlist for years, this weekend is your moment.
So, by order of the Peaky fookin’ Blinders, consider this your cue to finally step into the ruthless world of Thomas Shelby. Pour yourself a drink, clear your schedule and press the play button. Because when the Peaky Blinders give an order, you listen.
