Crunchyroll announced on Tuesday that it will launch a new launch Crunchyroll Beta Website. The beta is currently available to 20% of its premium members, but it will eventually be available to all premium subscribers and free users in the US. The company will announce details on the international implementation of the beta at a future date. Qualifying Premium Users Can Subscribe Crunchyroll Beta through headers or pop-ups that appear on the service’s website.
In Crunchyroll Beta, the site’s homepage, has a new user interface, in which users can receive personalized recommendations and navigate seamlessly to their watchlist or redesigned display pages. The beta also includes enhanced search capabilities and the ability to filter between genres, new and popular anime, and subtitles and duplicate series. Users can also create and choose unique usernames from a library of avatars and images with different ranges.
Crunchyroll Beta also includes the new Crunchylists feature, which allows users to create their own compilation of titles. Users can add any series or episodes from the service to their list and organize it as they wish.
Crunchyroll surpassed more than four million subscribers and more than 100 million registered users in February.
Crunchyroll launched in 2006 as a streaming service offering anime titles without permission. The site secured US $ 4.05 million in its first round of funding from Venrock and began licensing titles in 2008.
The Chernin Group has a majority stake in Crunchyroll in December 2013. The Chernin Group and AT&T formed the joint venture Otter Media in 2014, and Otter Media invested another US $ 22 million in Crunchyroll‘s parent company Ellation in November 2015. AT&T then announced in August 2018 that it would acquire the entire Otter Media.
The service reached more than one million subscribers in February 2017, more than two million subscribers in October 2018 and more than three million subscribers in July 2020.
Crunchyroll and Nl Media Europa the transaction closed for Crunchyroll to become the majority owner of Nl Media Europa Group in December 2019. The companies announced the agreement in September 2019. Nl Media Europa SAS (Société par Actions Simplifiées or Simplified Equity Company) announced in April 2020 that it would change its name to Crunchyroll SAS.
The power service announced in December that Sonysay Funimation Global Group will acquire Crunchyroll from AT&T. Sony reported that the purchase price is $ 1.175 billion, to be paid in cash at the close.
Source: Email Correspondence