HuffPost senior reporter Leigh Blickley interviewed the hosts of “Streamiverse,” a podcast mostly about content on the new platform Quibi. Their podcast had originally been called “Quibiverse,” but they received a cease-and-desist letter from Quibi’s lawyers a few weeks after the launch — and Blickley wanted to find out more about their journey. After the piece went live, the hosts got a surprising query from the CEO of Quibi. In this edition of Must Reads, Blickley gives us a bit of insight into how it all went down.
How did you stumble upon this podcast?
My friend who is a comedian at Upright Citizens Brigade alerted my husband and I to “Quibiverse,” a podcast about the new streaming service Quibi, early on in its run. I found the hosts, UCB comedian Danielle Gibson and her colleague Rob Dezendorf, hilarious, and loved how they were excited for, yet sharply critical of, the phone-based app that features 10-minute episodes of scripted and nonscripted series.
But my interest in the podcast only grew when I learned the company sent them a cease-and-desist letter, partly due to the use of “Quibi” in their show title. Despite initially feeling defeated, Danielle and Rob pivoted from Quibi stans to Quibi haters under the new name “Streamiverse,” and honed in on their desire for revenge. I just needed to know more about their experience — so I contacted them over Twitter and we set up a Google Hangout.
There are a lot of recap/review podcasts out there. What makes “Streamiverse” so good?
Although “Streamiverse” claims it covers all streaming platforms, its sole purpose is to discuss the inner workings of Quibi and dissect each and every one of its shows, highlighting the good, the bad and the very bad. The hosts release a new episode every weekday (because, as they joke, Quibi takes weekends off) and make sure each one is 10 minutes or less, just like Quibi’s programming. They’re snarky and funny and brash, and it’s a delight. They went from being really excited about Quibi to, for lack of a better word, shitting all over it. And that just makes it even more enjoyable — and original.
A lot has developed with “Streamiverse” since this piece went up. Could you talk a little about what has happened?
Well, after we published the interview with Danielle and Rob, they gained a few more listeners and a lot more attention. Although Quibi didn’t respond to HuffPost’s request for comment, they did reach out to the hosts after the story started circulating and even offered up an interview with Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg himself! Katzenberg — or, as “Streamiverse” calls him, “Shrek Daddy” — eventually went on the podcast and publicly apologized for the cease-and-desist letter, telling Danielle and Rob, “It was a mistake.” In essence, we gave power to the people. It’s a beautiful thing.
In light of it all, “Streamiverse’s” new motivation is to save Quibi. Godspeed, my friends!
We had been trying to think of ways to cover Quibi, especially as we all clamor for stuff to watch. If you had to give them some advice about how to get more people to tune in, what would it be?
Unfortunately, Quibi was designed for people on-the-go. Now, during a pandemic, most people are no longer commuting to work or waiting to pick up their kids from school or taking a lunch break outside of the office. If they’re going to watch something, they probably want it to be longer than 10 minutes and they’re most likely not going to watch it on their phones. Also, don’t we want the shows we spend our precious time devouring to be good???
So to Quibi, I say better luck next time.
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