Skip to main content

Crunchyroll is being rolled up and sold to Funimation for $1.175 billion

The deal will give us more anime than we can handle, and that's a good thing.

What you need to know

  • Sony has announced that it is acquiring Crunchyroll for $1.175B in cash.
  • The deal comes months after AT&T was first reported to be scouting potential buyers for Crunchyroll.
  • Funimation and Crunchyroll have partnered in the past, and not both brands will become one.

It's been rumored for some time that Sony was interested in purchasing Crunchyroll, but today it's been confirmed that a deal is indeed happening. AT&T's WarnerMedia, which owns Crunchyroll, has agreed to sell the streaming service to Funimation Global Group, which is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Group. How much is Crunchyroll's vast category of anime worth? $1.175 billion in cash, according to a Sony press release:

Together with Crunchyroll, we will create the best possible experience for fans and greater opportunity for creators, producers, and publishers in Japan and elsewhere. Funimation has been doing this for over 25 years and we look forward to continuing to leverage the power of creativity and technology to succeed in this rapidly growing segment of entertainment.

Crunchyroll began in the US in 2006, and currently serves over 3 million SVOD (subscription video-on-demand) subscribers, and over 90 million registered users through AVOD (ad-based video-on-demand). Beyond anime, Crunchyroll offers manga, mobile games, merchandise, events, and more across over 200 supported countries. Despite being relatively newer, its library is larger than Funimation's.

Funimation has been around since 1994 and has exclusive rights to the Dragon Ball series, as well as offering other popular anime on its service. While both streaming services offer a largely different catalog, there is some crossover between the two like Bleach, Naruto, and others. Both are also available across a number of popular streaming devices, while Funimation has an exclusive deal with Hulu. In 2018 the rival streaming sites had a brief partnership to share some content between them, which brings us to today's announcement that sees the two services fully uniting their teams and brands.

"Crunchyroll's success is a direct result of the company's culture and commitment to their fans," states WarnerMedia Chief Revenue Officer, Tony Goncalves. "By combining with Funimation, they will continue to nurture a global community and bring more anime to more people."

It's not yet clear how the acquisition will play out; if Sony will phase out the Crunchyroll name in favor of its own brand or if something entirely new will emerge from the unification. The deal is currently pending regulatory approval.

PlayStation 5



Source: androidcentral
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

The hidden cost of food delivery

Noah Lichtenstein Contributor Share on Twitter Noah Lichtenstein is the founder and managing partner of Crossover , a diversified private technology fund backed by institutional investors, technology execs and professional athletes and entertainers. More posts by this contributor What Studying Students Teaches Us About Great Apps I’ll admit it: When it comes to food, I’m lazy. There are dozens of great dining options within a few blocks of my home, yet I still end up ordering food through delivery apps four or five times per week. With the growing coronavirus pandemic closing restaurants and consumers self-isolating, it is likely we will see a spike in food delivery much like the 20% jump China reported during the peak of its crisis. With the food delivery sector rocketing toward a projected $365 billion by the end of the decade, I’m clearly not the only one turning to delivery apps even before the pandemic hit. Thanks to technology (and VC funding) we can get a ri
Read more

Cyber Monday Canada: Last-minute deals for everyone on your list

Best Cyber Monday Canada deals: Smart Home Audio Phones, Tablets & Accessories Wearables Laptops & PC Components Amazon products Gaming Televisions Cameras Lifestyle & Kitchen Toys & Kids Cyber Monday Canada is here, and retailers are rolling out the red carpet for customers who want to shop for everything from tech to kitchenware to games and everything in between. Unlike years past, Cyber Monday Canada deals look a bit different than normal. Instead of retailers trying to pack their stores with as many shoppers as possible, we're seeing tons of online deals that you can take advantage of from the comfort of your home. We've rounded up our favorites below, so feel free to browse through the best of what Canada Cyber Monday has to offer! This list is being updated with new Cyber Monday deals all the time, so check back often. Spotlight deals It's a Switch Nintendo Switch Fortnite Edition bundle $399.95 at Amazon It's a Switch.
Read more

iPhone 13 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro Buyer's Guide: 50+ Differences Compared

The iPhone 15 Pro brings over 50 new features and improvements to Apple's high-end smartphones compared to the iPhone 13 Pro, which was released two years prior. This buyer's guide breaks down every major difference you should be aware of between the two generations and helps you to decide whether it's worth upgrading. The ‌iPhone 13‌ Pro debuted in 2021, introducing a brighter display with ProMotion technology for refresh rates up to 120Hz, the A15 Bionic chip, a telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, Macro photography and photographic styles, Cinematic mode for recording videos with shallow depth of field, ProRes video recording, a 1TB storage option, and five hours of additional battery life. The ‌iPhone 13‌ Pro was discontinued upon the announcement of the iPhone 14 Pro in 2022, but it is still possible to get hold of it second-hand. Our guide helps to answer the question of how to decide which of these two iPhone models is best for you and serves as a way to c
Read more

Slack’s new integration deal with AWS could also be about tweaking Microsoft

Slack and Amazon announced a big integration late yesterday afternoon. As part of the deal, Slack will use Amazon Chime for its call feature, while reiterating its commitment to use AWS as its preferred cloud provider to run its infrastructure. At the same time, AWS has agreed to use Slack for internal communications. Make no mistake, this is a big deal as the SaaS communications tool increases its ties with AWS, but this agreement could also be about slighting Microsoft and its rival Teams product by making a deal with a cloud rival. In the past Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield has had choice words for Microsoft saying the Redmond technology giant sees his company as an “existential threat.” Whether that’s true or not — Teams is but one piece of a huge technology company — it’s impossible not to look at the deal in this context. Aligning more deeply with AWS sends a message to Microsoft, whose Azure infrastructure services compete with AWS. Butterfield didn’t say that of course
Read more