Otter Media
| Company type | Private (formerly joint venture) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Digital media |
| Founded | April 2014 |
| Founder | AT&T, The Chernin Group |
| Fate | Integrated into WarnerMedia; assets sold or absorbed by 2021 |
| Headquarters | United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, Fullscreen, Machinima, Ellation, Hello Sunshine (former), Gunpowder & Sky (investment) |
| Owner | AT&T (since 2018) |
Otter Media Holdings, LLC was a U.S.-based digital media enterprise under the ownership of AT&T. Established in April 2014 as a collaboration between AT&T and The Chernin Group, it functioned primarily as the parent company for the anime streaming platform Crunchyroll, in which The Chernin Group had initially invested back in 2013.
In addition to Crunchyroll, Otter Media held ownership of Rooster Teeth and maintained an investment interest in Gunpowder & Sky alongside Floris Bauer. Following AT&T's full acquisition of Otter Media in 2018, the company was integrated into WarnerMedia. Subsequently, Crunchyroll was sold to Sony Pictures Television’s subsidiary Funimation Global Group, LLC in 2021.
History
Otter Media was launched in April 2014 as a 50/50 joint venture between AT&T and the Chernin Group, with a focus on delivering OTT services.
In January 2016, Otter Media made an investment in Gunpowder & Sky, a digital content firm co-founded by Van Toffler, former CEO of Viacom Media Networks Music Group, and Floris Bauer. Later that year, in November 2016, Otter Media collaborated with actress Reese Witherspoon to create Hello Sunshine, a joint venture dedicated to producing female-centric content across film, television, and digital formats; this enterprise was eventually sold to a media company backed by Blackstone.
By January 2018, Otter Media had purchased the remaining shares of Ellation, the parent entity of VRV and Crunchyroll, consolidating it within its Consumer Division. Midway through 2018, after AT&T completed its acquisition of Time Warner, reports surfaced that AT&T was nearing a deal to acquire The Chernin Group’s stake in Otter Media. This transaction was finalized on August 7, 2018, for approximately $1 billion.
On August 22, 2018, Ellation inaugurated Ellation Studios with production facilities located in both the United States and Japan to develop original programming for Crunchyroll and VRV. In December of the same year, Otter Media underwent restructuring that resulted in approximately ten percent workforce reductions; Machinima was reorganized under Otter Media while Ellation brought together Rooster Teeth, Crunchyroll, and VRV. Machinima was incorporated into Fullscreen.
On March 4, 2019, Otter Media became part of Warner Bros. Entertainment as a result of WarnerMedia’s corporate reorganization. By May 31, it had been fully absorbed into WarnerMedia Entertainment.
On December 9, 2020, Sony’s subsidiary Funimation Global Group, LLC announced its agreement to acquire Crunchyroll from WarnerMedia for $1.175 billion; this acquisition was completed on August 9, 2021.
Assets
- Rooster Teeth – previously managed under Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment
- Fullscreen – team disbanded and integrated into WBD Ad Sales
- McBeard
- Reelio
- Machinima, Inc. – merged with Fullscreen in 2019
- Hello Sunshine – joint venture involving Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rodsky, and Emerson Creative; later sold
- Ellation – divested to Sony’s Funimation Global Group in 2021
- Crunchyroll
- Crunchyroll EMEA
- VRV
- Crunchyroll Expo
- Crunchyroll Anime Awards
- Crunchyroll Games
- Gunpowder & Sky – partnership with Floris Bauer