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Report: AT&T Lists Crunchyroll at $1.5 Billion in Bid to Sell Service to Sony

AT&T is working to lower its incredible $151 billion debt and has offered up Crunchyroll. According to The Information, the media giant is currently in talks to sell the Japanese anime-centric streaming service to Sony.

While Sony would be the perfect company to acquire the streamer because they already have their footprint in the niche market with Funimation — which they acquired in 2017 — sources say they are staggered by the $1.5 billion price tag AT&T’s WarnerMedia has placed for Crunchyroll as “the price is well above recent values for other niche streaming services.”

As the anime world grows more and more popular, Crunchyroll has become a bigger platform. In July, the streamer reported they hit three million paid subscribers globally, with over 70 million registered users garnered.

The service also announced eight new shows in February. They span the adventure-fantasy-historical fiction genres. These shows are produced with noted publishers, including Kodansha, and animation studios, such as MAPPA.

Crunchyroll was also leveraged as WarnerMedia was promoting HBO Max. Two weeks ahead of the May 27 launch, WarnerMedia announced HBO Max partnered with Crunchyroll to bring 17 titles to the platform at launch.

Subscribers were given access to titles such as “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood,” “Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World” (director’s cut) and “Keep Your Hands off Eizouken,” alongside the Crunchyroll original series “In/Spectre.

Crunchyroll is currently available free with ads, ad-free subscriptions run $6.95/month or bundled with VRV for $9.99. VRV bundle includes Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, Nick, Shudder, Boomerang and Curiosity Stream.


Stephanie Sengwe is writer based in New York who covers companies in the streaming industry including AT&T, Amazon, Apple, Hulu, Roku, and Netflix . She also contributes daily news coverage on streaming services and devices for The Streamable.

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