Quibi is making a comeback of sorts on Roku, as an ephemeral streaming service that stocks short-form series ("quick bites")

Roku announced today that it has acquired exclusive global distribution rights to Quibi's content More than 75 award-winning shows featuring stars such as Chrissy Teigen, Idris Elba, Liam Hemsworth, and Anna Kendrick will be available for free on the ad-supported Roku channel beginning some time this year

Quibi, founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, has raised $175 billion to build a mobile-only platform featuring short films cut into 5- to 10-minute episodes The proprietary "Turnstyle" technology allows programs to be viewed in either landscape or portrait mode

The service launched in April but struggled to gain viewers; Quibi also costs $499 per month, and TikTok's short-form content is free

In a review of Quibi, senior editor Henry T Casey wrote, "At the end of my 90-day trial of Quibi, I found little reason to continue my subscription"

Six months later, in October, the Wall Street Journal reported Quibi's closure, one of the biggest tech failures of 2020

Today, Quibi's programming and films have migrated to Roku

The library contains unreleased programming, including Spielberg's After Dark, a horror series streamed only after dark, and Slugfest, a documentary series about the Russo brothers' comics

The agreement between the two companies, reportedly worth $100 million, includes only distribution rights The showrunners own their work, and Quibi has licensed them to stream content for seven years; it is unclear if and how Quibi's turnstile technology will be displayed on Roku

The Roku channel offers more than 40,000 free ad-supported movies and programs and 150 free live linear television channels It has an estimated 618 million viewers