One of the most high-profile executives at Jeffrey Katzenberg's Quibi has departed before the platform has even officially launched
- Quibi's head of partnerships and advertising Tim Connolly has left the company after less than a year, the company confirmed to Business Insider.
- A Quibi spokeswoman confirmed the news to Business Insider and said that the departure was the result of a reorg and Connolly's position being eliminated. Quibi's advertising partnership team is now a standalone function reporting directly to Meg Whitman.
- Connolly managed business relationships at Hollywood exec Jeffrey Katzenberg's planned mobile streaming-video service, including with advertisers and agencies, technology partners, and subscriber acquisition partners.
- He was instrumental in leading up-front negotiations with advertisers, securing $100 million in ad deals ahead of the service's launch, from advertisers including P&G and Anheuser-Busch InBev, Business Insider previously reported.
- The departure comes as the company embarks on an aggressive hiring spree to take on the video-streaming market with a planned 2020 launch.
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Tim Connolly, Quibi's head of partnerships and advertising, has left the company after less than a year, Business Insider has learned.
Connolly managed business relationships with all partners at Hollywood exec Jeffrey Katzenberg's planned mobile streaming-video service, including advertisers and agencies, technology partners, and subcriber acquisition partners like app stores, and mobile operators.
A Quibi spokeswoman confirmed the news to Business Insider, and said that the departure was the result of a reorg and Connolly's position being eliminated. Quibi's advertising partnership team is now a standalone function reporting directly to Meg Whitman.
He was instrumental in leading up-front negotiations with advertisers, securing $100 million in ad deals ahead of the service's launch, from advertisers including P&G and Anheuser-Busch InBev, Business Insider reported earlier.
Connolly formerly was SVP of partnerships and distribution at Hulu. He left Hulu last summer as part of a reorg.
Quibi is led by Katzenberg on the content side, and former Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman leads the business side. The company hired a number of senior execs with backgrounds in digital, streaming, and traditional media, and Connolly was one of them. Nicole McCormack, Quibi's head of advertising partnerships, and Marni Schapiro, Quibi's head of North America advertising sales, ultimately reported to Connolly.
Quibi has been aggressively hiring to take on the video-streaming market with a planned April 2020 launch. Quibi has posted 48 new job listings on LinkedIn in the past few weeks, as Business Insider reported last week.
While Katzenberg is an industry veteran with connections and already has talent on board, it faces questions about whether consumers want premium mobile-first video content, a source told Business Insider earlier.
The company plans to launch with a $5 per month, ad-supported subscription version and an $8 per month, ad-free version.