Short-form video platform Quibi launches today, and the mobile-only distributor is hoping to capture sports fans with daily highlight shows and premier series featuring LeBron James, Cam Newton and some of the sports world's brightest young stars. One of the main selling points for sports fans will be “The Replay,” an ESPN-produced recap and highlight show. The series will be hosted by Nabil Karim, Ashley Brewer and Sebastian Salazar, and episodes will be produced at ESPN’s digital-focused Studio E in Bristol. Bell Media will produce a similar sports recap show for the Canadian market. “We think there’s definitely a place in the market for people that want a quick but thorough and insightful roundup of things happening in the sports world, and we think this format we’ve designed with ESPN for ‘The Replay’ gives them that,” said Quibi Head of News Programming Ryan Kadro. With the sports world shut down for the foreseeable future, Kadro envisions that “The Replay” will focus more on the news around sports and lean on ESPN’s video archives for historical packages and top-10 lists. Though ESPN has platform exclusivity in the multi-sports space, Kadro said the company is having conversations with the various leagues about “different programming around their games and around their players.”
DOCUMENTARIES TO BE CORNERSTONE: One of Quibi’s debut properties is “I Promise,” a documentary series starring James that will offer viewers an inside look at the day-to-day operations of the I Promise School in Akron. The series was produced by James and Maverick Carter's SpringHill Entertainment. Another launch title is “Prodigy,” which will be hosted by USWNT F Megan Rapinoe and feature the stories of eight of the most accomplished athletes who are 21 or younger. Coming after Quibi’s launch is Newton’s “Iron Sharpens Iron,” an eight-part series that will pair up elite athletes for joint workouts and provide a behind-the-scenes look at the training programs of top professional athletes. The show will feature Newton as well as Trae Young, Kerri Walsh Jennings, Carli Lloyd, Amanda Nunes and Justin Turner, among others. Stephen Curry’s Unanimous Media is producing “Benedict Men,” a docuseries about the basketball team at the St. Benedict’s Prep high school in Newark.
