But said companies primarily deal in that specific type of media.
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But said companies primarily deal in that specific type of media.
I agree with some of the sentiment expressed in this thread. Isn't Netflix, Hulu, HIVE not a thing for anime? There are anime options if the deal goes through. It wouldn't surprise me that this is because this is Japanese company coming in and having more market share control of the Japanese animation being shown in the US. Hope the deal still goes through.
I mean, that's the point though- Crunchyroll doesn't stop being an anime streaming service just because it has some non-anime content on it, any more than Netflix becomes an anime streaming service because it does have some anime on it.
I must say, I've got very little time indeed for the conspiracy theory that this is the US trying to take a foreign company down a peg. Even if they rule that the merger can go ahead, there are real concerns here that absolutely should be investigated.
I'm not familiar with that case, but at first glance it strikes me that satellite radio and normal radio don't inherently have different selections of content or different audience profiles between them, whereas the target audience and range of content on offer for Netflix is a very different one to that of Funimation or Crunchyroll, even if there is some overlap.
Actually Netflix has quite a bit of major gets even blocking Crunchyroll or funimation from getting them some continuations to some shows they were even dubbing already. They are definitely increasing production of orignals and licensing too. Whether or not the anime is quality is another question. Hulu and Amazon have given up currently in this department though.
Just off the top of my head
-Devilman Crybaby
-Godzilla (Multiple)
-GITS
-Kakegurui
-DoroHeDoro
-Seven Deadly Sins
-Baki
-Hi Score Girl
-Beastars
-Pokemon Journeys (this may change since this isn't a permanent deal)
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As someone who follows the anime market closely... aside from Netflix..Hulu, HIDIVE and VRV don't have good catalogs and there's also an issue with their video players... crunchyroll recently improved their video player but their own subtitled anime streamed and have a HUUGE catalog. While Netflix does have a deep catalog as well they don't get seasonal anime in number and quality like crunchy does.. Funimation was 2nd to crunchy in getting quality seasonal anime before the merger. Netflix funds its own shows and the shows it does indeed get licensed from Japan, gets them as Netflix JP exclusives for months until they're later available for rest of the world on Netflix. If you asked any other person who seasonally watched anime, they would prefer Crunchyroll or Funimation or VRV(at best).. Netflix isn't exactly known to be a great seasonal anime platform since it like i said, restricts some of the well known seasonal anime to JP until months later, when it allows them to come to ROW Netflix.
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Hulu doesn't really license their own stuff. They get their shows from Funimation and Crunchyroll and a few other smaller sources. Netflix will license a show or so a season, but most of what they have comes from Funimation and Crunchyroll and a few other smaller sources.
This is the worry, Funimation and Crunchyroll license the bulk of what we get. If they decide to stop putting their stuff on places like Hulu and Netflix then you need their service. And, frankly, very few places will be able to complete with the amount of money Sony would be able to throw into acquisitions.
Essentially groups and senators opposed it and asked for it to be blocked but the judge ruled that it wasn't anti competitive because satellite radio faces competition from " traditional AM/FM radio, high-definition radio, MP3 players and audio delivered by mobile phones." There were only two real satellite companies and a merger went through because of broad things like "mp3 players and smart phones" as competition despite having things that traditional radio couldn't compete with (uncensored talk radio, commercial free music, availablity of station regardless of city).
Outside of streaming, this merger would have given Sony a stranglehold on anime distribution outside of Asia. For Anime streaming the only other player is Netflix. Sentai Filmworks/HiDive has been largely squeezed out, Hulu sub-licenses all their stuff from Funi & Crunchyroll, Viz quit (and before then sublicense basically everything they got to Crunchyroll) and Discotek specialise in back catalogue stuff.
I don't know how anyone can say that the current big streaming platforms can't compete with Sony (who themselves don't have any actual streaming platform outside of Funi). They spend a lot more than 1.2 billion dollars on getting streaming rights for different non-anime series and broadcasts.
Them choosing not to get into the anime space isn't because they can't its because they choose not to because its such a small market to them its not worth fighting over. This was true before this deal and it'd be true after it too.
Honestly I have to agree that it's a good thing that this is being further investigated. Sony would pretty much have a monopoly on anime if this went through
Yes and a combination of Funimation and Crunchyroll will overtake this list in a single season.
Netflix licenses three things a year, Funimation and Crunchyroll license 3-4 a season. Each.
Yes, but that doesn't stop this from being a monopoly. They will control upwards of 50% of the shows licensed in a given year. It's about market share. A combination of Funimation and Crunchyroll, under Sony's umbrella, could potentially control the market. That's the worry. They might be able to price other would-be licensees out of the market.
Sure Netflix might still get their 2 shows a year, but everyone else? They won't be able to compete.
other than build a team that can work with Japanese companies and do localization. amazon tried and failed at it. its unlikely a new player steps in given the global logistics behind it.
i regret that after making fun of people whose sole takeaway from the disney/fox merger was that the x-men would join the mcu, i am now one of those people but for wanting nichijou to be on crunchyroll
Not a fan of content consolidation since it's inherently anti-consumer. That said, kind of interesting timing here...although correct me if I am wrong the bigger consolidation deals in recent memory (ATT buying up HBO and everything else, Disney buying up Fox properties) happened in the previous admin with different forces putting fingers on scales.
How hard is to enter in the market of Anime distribution? It is reasonable to assume that Amazon and Netflix could be providing this service, meaning that even if the market is defined as Anime Streaming you would still have potential rivals in the other streaming services. Also, if I were defending Sony, I would try to define the market as Animation in general just to have the opportunity to calculate the substitution rate of Bob's Burgers , Jujustu Kaisen and Trolls World Tour.
thats a uphill fight for sony b/c even most animation fans consider anime tto be separate from western animation. also outside comady shows, there isnt much of a young adult/adult animation market once you remove anime.
It's completely different. Disney buying Fox was a merge of IP and movie studios - which there's no limit on IP and there's still several movie studios, whereas this is a company that owns one Anime streaming service purchasing the only other competing Anime streaming service. This is bound to ring some alarm bells
And beyond that, the two companies merging license a bulk of what comes over here in a given year.
Vineland saga, and doororoo were about year ago. They were getting ton of mappa stuff
Oh, I know that fans usually discern types of animation, but as someone who used to work in antitrust the arguments of market definition can sometimes be hilarious. If we agree that anime fans are male 19 – 34, then I would try to argue that the market should also include Star Wars and Marvel shows. If we agree that Anime if for children and young adults the market should include Peppa Pig and Minecraft. I would really like to see they try to argue that videogames and streaming are in the same market.
Disney was forced to sell Fox's regional networks, for what it's worth.
Considering my options in the UK are Netflix, Crunchyroll or Funimation for the big streaming sites for anime. So 2/3 would be just Sony alone.
Amazon aren't even considered because they are barely trying anymore.
HiDive is the only other one but the library is not even comparable.
Amazon aren't even considered because they are barely trying anymore.
HiDive is the only other one but the library is not even comparable.
It's really not.
You can get anime on like every streaming platform. Ghibli sold their rights to HBO Max in the US, Netflix is producing a lot of them. Anime studio/production can negotiate with plenty of streaming services outside of the anime centric ones.
but they kinda cant. how manny streaming companies have people that can do localization on staff. its a specialty most streaming sites dont have.
User Banned (2 Weeks): Platform Warring; Conspiracy Theorizing; Prior Bans for Platform Warring
MS: We buyin' up everything in eyesight!
US Govt: Crickets
Sony: We wanna buy...
US Govt: slow down...
US Govt: Crickets
Sony: We wanna buy...
US Govt: slow down...
I don't see how that would be problematic for the likes of Disney, Netflix or Amazon. They're already producing content from many different countries and manage to localize all of them in several languages, with both dubs and subs.
Or am I misunderstanding what you mean by localization on staff?
According to the logic of some here, Apple could buy Microsoft or vice-versa because technically Linux exists as an alternative, or Facebook is in the right for buying out Instagram and WhatsApp, and can continue to buy out competitors because technically Twitter and Snapchat exist as social media platforms.
Anime is a market of its own and I think it's a good thing they're taking a longer look at this. You can watch anime in places that aren't Crunchyroll or Funimation, but even then many of the shows in these places are licensed through those two. Netflix is really the only other one right now I think you could argue is producing and/or localizing quite a bit of their own content at a competitive level in any given season. If the worry is the number of options studios in Japan will have when licensing their works in the US, then it is absolutely a completely valid concern. Sony and AT&T saying "but it's all just cartoons" is pretty dumb.
Control the market of what? Streaming Anime? This is such a hilarious take when we're talking about companies (Hulu (Disney), Netflix and Amazon, which is literally bigger than all of them combined, even if you include Sony) that spend billions of dollars to get exclusive streaming rights for their platforms. They are quite literally competing to block content from other streaming platforms to their benefit, which is something people suggest Sony might do if they buy an extremely niche anime (by streaming platforms numbers) streaming service that licenses its own content.
There's literally nothing that prevents these huge companies from licensing or producing their own anime content.
Except that when it comes to streaming, Disney acquiring Fox and all its past and future content has about a billion times the impact on the streaming market than Sony buying Crunchyroll, an anime streaming service with 1.2 million paying subscribers that licenses its own content, when Disney+ already has 100 million subscribers and they could pull all Disney and Fox content from other platforms on a whim (and they will)
While it could be argued that a merger would create a monopoly in the space now, I don't think it would be a strong one. I think other new parties from the existing non anime streaming space can spend to compete. They just currently don't want to. Who's to say funi and crunchy won't just get out muscled if say Disney wanted to start licensing seasonally.
Aren't anime simulcast licensing deals done per each individual show anyway, with the exception on broad long-term deals.
I will admit setting up a competitor can be costly, considering you need connections on the ground in Japan that have access to the major studios. Studios would prefer more actors in the space so that deals become more competitive.
If American Netflix did away with its bulk releases after a season was over, they would be much more enticing to consumers for anime.
Also there's the fact that Sony is also technically competing with piracy as fansubs have a much stronger market share (despite not making any money) in seasonal anime compared to traditional streaming.
Aren't anime simulcast licensing deals done per each individual show anyway, with the exception on broad long-term deals.
I will admit setting up a competitor can be costly, considering you need connections on the ground in Japan that have access to the major studios. Studios would prefer more actors in the space so that deals become more competitive.
If American Netflix did away with its bulk releases after a season was over, they would be much more enticing to consumers for anime.
Also there's the fact that Sony is also technically competing with piracy as fansubs have a much stronger market share (despite not making any money) in seasonal anime compared to traditional streaming.
Microsoft -right now- is a monopoly on so many fronts. It doesn't need any acquisitions to change that. And thats something the Biden adminstration should address but won't because Microsoft is legitimately too big to mess with. And those other deals happened precisely for those reasons.
There were actually a ton of comments along this line on the first page.
Lets be real here. Amazon failed because they shoved Anime behind a double subscription Paywall and their Video Release Schedule on a weekly basis for the heavy hitter shows they got wasn't at all consistent to the point they pissed off their partners.
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Microsoft is not a monopoly in any front. Windows has competition with MacOS and Chrome OS and Office 365 is in competition with Google Workspace.
yup they failed on the logistics side(ironic given logistics is supposed to be amazon's specialty) but yeah any streaming service that wanted to add anime would be expected to do the localization work.
