Is it time for Sony to acquire Crunchyroll? The proposed acquisition of the specialized streaming platform Crunchyroll by the Japanese hardware and entertainment giant may now be facing an additional degree of regulatory uncertainty and delay.
Technology website The Information reported that the U.S. Department of Justice has extended its antitrust review to the business. The move could delay completion of the deal by up to six months, or even derail it completely.
The deal was announced in December last year at a price of $ 1.175 billion. She sees Funimation, a joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Aniplex, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), buying 100% of Otter Media’s Crunchyroll Ellation Holdings, part of AT&T’s WarnerMedia cluster.
Sony noted at the time that the deal was subject to regulatory approvals, but did not try to predict when they could be completed. Sony did not respond to Varietylatest investigations to date.
According to The Information, the Justice Department is reviewing the agreement to see if it would give Japanese animation studios fewer options for distributing programs in the United States.
Crunchyroll claims to have more than 3 million VOD subscribers per subscription and about 90 million registered users in more than 200 countries and territories. Offers VOD with ads, mobile games, manga, merchandise and event distribution. Crunchyroll claims to have more than 1,000 titles and more than 30,000 episodes, which it claims to represent the largest anime library in the world. In the United States, Crunchyroll’s ad-free subscription service costs $ 7.99 a month and includes simultaneous streaming of Japanese anime programs as soon as an hour after they air in the country.
Anime fans expressed fears that Sony would merge Funimation and Crunchyroll and reduce options or raise prices. Others questioned whether a change of ownership from Warner to Sony would undermine content partnerships between Crunchyroll and Warner, such as VRV and Toonami. The fate of Crunchyroll’s relationships with VIZ Media and Webtoon for home video releases and Manhwa licensing, respectively, is also unclear.
Sony, which lacks a global streaming platform like Disney Plus or HBO Max, may see the deal as addressing some of the disadvantages it currently operates compared to other entertainment conglomerates that include a Hollywood studio and a direct video business. to the consumer. Sony may also see the proposed deal as strengthening its position in a specialized corner of the streaming universe and as strengthening its position in an essentially Japanese product.
The American anime market is fragmented, with five leading companies, including Netflix, Crunchyroll, Funimation, Amazon Prime Video and Hidive. Netflix, which is many multiples larger than Crunchyroll in the United States, is investing heavily in Japanese and Korean animation and may be on its way to becoming the market leader – if it isn’t already.
“If the DOJ decided to try to block the deal, the only impact would be to keep Sony, which does not have other streaming services in the United States, a small player in streaming, while benefiting companies like Netflix and Amazon,” suggested The Information in an article opinion that accompanies it.