Funimation to Acquire Crunchyroll (Crunchyroll to swallow Funimation content)

[Asuras]

Not sure if it needs its own thread but...

Funimation to Acquire Crunchyroll: Fans Win!

We have really exciting news, guys: Funimation has signed an agreement to acquire Crunchyroll! Here’s the official press release.

“The union of Funimation and Crunchyroll is a win for anime fans around the world that will elevate the art and culture of this medium for decades to come,” said Colin Decker, CEO of Funimation Global Group. “Combining these two great companies will be a win for fans, and enable us to compete at a truly global scale. I am honored to welcome the wonderful Crunchyroll team to a shared mission—to help everyone belong to the extraordinary world of anime.”

OK, so you have questions. We get it. We are not able to share anything at this time, but you can rest assured that both companies will continue to operate independently until regulatory review and approval is complete and the deal closes. So until then, it’s Anime-as-usual!

AT&T to Sell Crunchyroll to Sony’s Funimation Global Group

Culver City, CA and Dallas, TX, December 9, 2020 — Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and AT&T Inc.* (NYSE:T) today announced that AT&T agreed to sell its Crunchyroll anime business to Funimation Global Group, LLC. Funimation is a joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.’s subsidiary, Aniplex Inc.

Crunchyroll is a premier anime direct-to-consumer service within AT&T’s WarnerMedia segment with more than 3 million SVOD subscribers and growing. It serves 90 million registered users across more than 200 countries and territories offering AVOD, mobile games, manga, events merchandise and distribution. The combination of Crunchyroll and Funimation provides the opportunity to broaden distribution for their content partners and expand fan-centric offerings for consumers.

“The Crunchyroll team has done an extraordinary job of not only growing the Crunchyroll brand but also building a passionate community of anime fans. Crunchyroll’s success is a direct result of the company’s culture and commitment to their fans,” said Tony Goncalves, Chief Revenue Officer, WarnerMedia. “By combining with Funimation, they will continue to nurture a global community and bring more anime to more people. I’m incredibly proud of the Crunchyroll team and what they have been able to accomplish in the digital media space in such a short period of time. They’ve created an end-to-end global ecosystem for this incredible art form.”

“We are proud to bring Crunchyroll into the Sony family,” said Tony Vinciquerra, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment. “Through Funimation and our terrific partners at Aniplex and Sony Music Entertainment Japan, we have a deep understanding of this global artform and are well-positioned to deliver outstanding content to audiences around the world. 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.”

The purchase price for the transaction is $1.175 billion subject to customary working capital and other adjustments, and the proceeds will be paid in cash at closing. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

[mcorre]

So it's official. Not real thrilled, but I do hope this means some of the shows that have been streaming only on Crunchyroll will make it to disc - White Album 2, GJ Club, and lots more.

[mysticwaterfall]

Not surprised at all, but I do wonder if this means they are getting rid of CR and folding everything into Funi. Which would suck as the Funi app doesn't work for me. It stutters every few minutes and then freezes. Only streaming service that does that for me.

[InuYashaCrusade]

[gloomranger]

More like...

[HyugaKojiro]

Originally Posted by gloomranger

More like...

Can't wait until some executive at Sony decides that it might be a good idea for Funimation and Sony Interactive Entertainment to merge.

[Tylerfan]

All Glory to Sony-kun

/s

[MOONPHASE]

Some of the comments on Youtube are pretty gross and disturbing like saying stuff like Well time to hit the seven seas and trying to justify it. Nothing justifies it. While I am a Dub fan but there have been some changes in the Dub that have made me cringe but these people act like the Japanese audio version will be altered as well. It's just so dumb and an insult to the Creators to watch Anime like that. Stream it normally, buy the Blu-ray or watch it on TV like Toonami should be the only options.

[neoz]

[Lum]

Carve up AT&T again, funny. That talk of selling their video game branch fizzled out though.

[SpaceDandy]

Well, nice streaming monopoly there.

I can understand that the anime business is afraid of Netflix and the likes but, uh, was this really the sole solution?

[Mangaranga]

>Funimation Global Group to Acquire Crunchyroll: Fans Win!
>Fans Win!

Someone needs to enlighten Funimation that monopolies don’t work that way.
In all seriousness, this is genuinely concerning and worrying from both a streaming and home video perspective.
CRs website and player is vastly, VASTLY superior to Funi, and Funi doesn’t bother translating any of their TS over to home video either. Then there’s Funimation’s wobbly BD quality and how every dub going forward will be their mostly naff in house stuff. RIP Sentai too.

[neoz]

Originally Posted by Mangaranga

>Funimation Global Group to Acquire Crunchyroll: Fans Win!
>Fans Win!

Someone needs to enlighten Funimation that monopolies don’t work that way.
In all seriousness, this is genuinely concerning and worrying from both a streaming and home video perspective.
CRs website and player is vastly, VASTLY superior to Funi, and Funi doesn’t bother translating any of their TS over to home video either. Then there’s Funimation’s wobbly BD quality and how every dub going forward will be their mostly naff in house stuff. RIP Sentai too.

It is the fans that don't seem to get the long term effects of this.
I guess they don't care about the scores of people that are about to lose their jobs anyway. Not that is matters as these people are to cheap to even support the industry yet demand more anime be released.

[El_Fez]

Originally Posted by neoz

It is the fans that don't seem to get the long term effects of this.
I guess they don't care about the scores of people that are about to lose their jobs anyway. Not that is matters as these people are to cheap to even support the industry yet demand more anime be released.

Yeah, its exactly the same sort of thing when Disney bought Fox and all the comic book guys were going "YES! THAT MEANS X-MEN IN THE MCU!" while I was all "You do realize this is a terrible thing, right?"

Oh well. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.

[starsteam]

If they continue with home video releases that would be of quality, and don't murk around with the translations for sub and dubs then I'd be happy.
Unfortunately this merger has nothing to do with any of that. If anything it would be less Crunchyroll titles licensed to better companies than Funimation.

[ps3bd_owner]

Guess that means Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT will be on Crunchyroll? Good news regardless of the quality.

Originally Posted by neoz

It is the fans that don't seem to get the long term effects of this.
I guess they don't care about the scores of people that are about to lose their jobs anyway. Not that is matters as these people are to cheap to even support the industry yet demand more anime be released.

That's something I and many hadn't thought of. :-/

[kk1]

Does this mean we might finally get A Place Further Than the Universe released on Blu-ray?

[LordCrumb]

Funimations streaming service is Geo-Blocked.... I hope that doesn't mean they will GeoBlock chrunchyroll too.... ?

[BigOnAnime]

I'm just going to quote what I said in the other thread...

Originally Posted by BigOnAnime

So, the translators under MX Media (owned by Crunchyroll) are going to see their pay increase from $80 an episode to something more livable, right, RIGHT?! Oh wait, Crunchyroll can't even be bothered to credit them unless there's a Blu-ray release. Also, expect layoffs in certain areas as that's what happens with this sort of consolidation. I'm definitely not happy about this, if only this country enforced antitrust.

Also I hope nothing happens with the Crunchyroll video player because **** this nonsense. Who needs sign subs and proper subtitling, right? Oh, and FUNimation updated their video player recently to make the settings menu more clunky, and they removed the back/forward shortcut button (which was shift+left/right-yes, you NEEDED to press shift first). I've had to make use of this userscript I found on Google to get back the back/forward shortcut button.
https://twitter.com/BigOnAnime/statu...35188138639360








I say Sentai Filmworks needs our support more than ever, pre-order their releases, don't just wait for the sales when they'll make way, way less.

Originally Posted by LordCrumb

Funimations streaming service is Geo-Blocked.... I hope that doesn't mean they will GeoBlock chrunchyroll too.... ?

It's quite possible depending on what Sony wants to do. BTW, FUNimation region-blocks their ENTIRE website, instead of just the videos which is absolutely ridiculous. Years ago, when they announced they were expanding to the UK, they region-blocked the announcement. And a few months ago, they announced they were expanding to Brazil and Mexico, and the announcement was region-blocked for the people in those regions..... Read the replies, it's a mess.
https://twitter.com/FUNimation/statu...79734991863808

They also region-blocked this streaming consolidation announcement last year. Given how this nonsense still happens when they're owned by Sony, yeesh.
https://twitter.com/FUNimation/statu...67339640000512

[adelinagerber]

I also block this region, unfortunately I look from another.