Otter Media

Otter Media Holdings, Inc.
Subsidiary
Industry Mass media
Founded April 2014
Headquarters Santa Monica, California, United States
Key people
 Tony Goncalves (CEO)[1][2]
Products OTT Services
Digital Networks
Film Production
Film Distribution
Online Television Programming
Events
$500 million (2014)[3]
Total equity $1 billion (2017)[4]
Parent WarnerMedia
Subsidiaries
Website www.ottermedia.com

Otter Media Holdings, Inc. is an American digital branding and media company. It owns Crunchyroll, VRV, Fullscreen, Gunpowder & Sky, Hello Sunshine, and Rooster Teeth.[5][9][10] Originally started as a joint venture of AT&T and the Chernin Group in 2014, it was solely acquired by AT&T on August 7, 2018 and subsequently operated as the subsidiary of WarnerMedia.

History

In April 2014, AT&T and the Chernin Group established Otter Media as the 50:50 joint venture to offer OTT services.

In January 2016, Otter Media, together with Van Toffler (former CEO of Viacom Media Networks Music Group) and Floris Bauer formed Gunpowder & Sky, a digital content company which eventually merged with FilmBuff.[11]

In November 2016, Otter Media and actress Reese Witherspoon formed Hello Sunshine, a joint venture focused on telling female-driven stories on film, TV, and digital platforms.[6] In July 2017, AT&T was reportedly looking to acquire full ownership of the company along with other joint ventures inherited in its acquisition of satellite TV provider DirecTV. The company if it were to be fully acquired by AT&T will cost a valuation of $1 billion.[12] Since February 2018, its CEO is Tony Goncalves (who was an AT&T Digital executive).

In January 2018, Otter Media bought the remaining stake in VRV and Crunchyroll owner Ellation.[10]

On June 20, 2018, Recode reported that AT&T was close to buying out the remaining stake in Otter it does not already own from Chernin, uniting assets like Crunchyroll and Rooster Teeth with Adult Swim and Machinima.[13] On August 7, 2018, AT&T announced their acquisition of Chernin Group's stake in Otter Media for an undisclosed amount.[14] As the result of the entire acquisition, Otter Media was incorporated into AT&T's WarnerMedia division.

On August 22, 2018, Ellation formed Ellation Studios a production studio with facilities in both US and Japan producing original content for Crunchyroll and VRV.[8][15]

References

  1. ↑ "Tony Goncalves Appointed CEO Of Otter Media". www.prnewswire.com.
  2. ↑ "AT&T Digital Executive Named CEO of Otter Media". hollywoodreporter.com.
  3. ↑ Spangler, Todd (22 April 2014). "AT&T, Chernin Group Invest $500 Million in Over-the-Top Video Venture". Variety.com. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "AT&T in talks to acquire Otter Media". nypost.com. 19 July 2017.
  5. 1 2 Roettgers, Janko (3 August 2015). "Chernin, AT&T Set Brand for New Online Video Venture: Ellation (Exclusive)". Variety.com. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  6. 1 2 Busch, Anita (November 21, 2016). "Reese Witherspoon, Otter Media Pact For New Company Hello Sunshine". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 15, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  7. ↑ Sky, Gunpowder &. "About Us - Gunpowder & Sky". Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  8. 1 2 Roettgers, Janko (22 August 2018). "AT&T's Ellation Launches Studios in Burbank and Tokyo to Produce Crunchyroll Originals". variety.com.
  9. ↑ Roettgers, Janko (4 November 2015). "Chernin's Otter Media Aims for More Than $200M Revenue This Year". Variety.com. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  10. 1 2 Roettgers, Janko (2018-01-24). "AT&T-Chernin J.V. Otter Media Buys Out Remaining Fullscreen, Crunchyroll Owners". Variety. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  11. ↑ Spangler, Todd (January 13, 2016). "Van Toffler Launches Digital Studio Backed by Chernin Group, AT&T". Variety. Archived from the original on December 4, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Here's the chart that explains why CBS and Viacom want to merge". www.recode.net. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  13. ↑ "AT&T is getting ready to acquire all of Otter Media, the streaming video company it co-owns with Peter Chernin". Recode. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  14. ↑ "AT&T Acquires Full Ownership of Otter Media". August 7, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Deeper Dive—AT&T has extra SVOD gems in Crunchyroll and VRV - FierceVideo". www.fiercevideo.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.