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Crunchyroll, Viz Media Partner for Home Video, Digital Distribution in N. America

Crunchyroll and Viz Media announced on Wednesday that they are partnering for a home video and electronic sell-through (EST) distribution deal to release anime in the United States and Canada. Viz Media will distribute some Crunchyroll titles on home video and through EST.

Crunchyroll currently has 50 million registered users with 2 million streaming subscribers. The company offers more than 1,000 titles and 30,000 episodes.

Adult Swim and Crunchyroll also announced a Toonami programming partnership and expanded distribution deal in March. The companies had announced in November that they are partnering with Alcon Entertainment to produce an anime series based on Blade Runner 2049, the sequel to the 1982 Blade Runner film.

WarnerMedia, the new content company created after AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner in June 2018, announced a reorganization of its divisions in March that is bringing many of its subsidiaries and brands — including Otter Media (Ellation, Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, VRV), Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and Boomerang — into a single "Global Kids & Young Adults" unit.

Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara has oversight of all WarnerMedia-licensed consumer products in the company's effort to launch an "integrated, global approach to all our kids and animation businesses." Tsujihara stated that there will be chance for WarnerMedia brands to collaborate, with opportunities to release new animated TV and digital projects in coordination with Warner Animation Group features.

Crunchyroll and Funimation announced a content-sharing partnership in September 2016 that ended in November 2018. As part of the partnership, the companies shared streaming rights for their anime titles. In addition, Funimation released some Crunchyroll catalog titles on home video with English dubs, and some titles digitally with English subtitles.

Source: Press release