Crunchyroll said it reached an agreement with Amazon to distribute Crunchyroll’s subscription anime service on Prime Video Channels in the U.S., Canada, Sweden and the U.K., beginning Tuesday. Prime users can choose from $7.99 or $9.99 a month packages.
Existing and new Crunchyroll subscribers will have access to library and simulcast content previously exclusive to Funimation. This move makes good on the promise to fans that the merger of […]
AT&T moves further away from the video biz with the divestment of the thriving anime-focused niche SVOD service.
WarneMedia parent AT&T is selling its Crunchyroll anime business to Funimation Global Group — a venture of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment, for $1.175 billion in cash. Fast-growing Crunchyroll is a premier anime direct-to-consumer service within AT&T’s WarnerMedia segment with over 3 million SVOD subscribers. It serves 90 million registered users across more than 200 countries and territories offering AVOD, mobile games, manga, events merchandise and distribution.
Sony is close to finalizing a deal to buy US-based anime streaming service Crunchyroll fro AT&T for nearly $1 billion, according to a report from Nikkei Asia. Nikkei says Sony negotiated exclusive rights to bid for the streaming service and its 3 million paying subscribers earlier this year, and the two companies have now “entered into final negotiations.” Although an asking price is unclear, Nikkei notes that Sony could end up spending “more than 100 billion yen” on the company — around $957 million.
As the mega-corporations swoop in, smaller streaming services such as Tubi, Pluto TV and Crunchyroll find a way to compete.
