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NEWS: Funimation, Milyoni Launch Anime Streaming Platform on Facebook


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la_contessa



Joined: 20 Apr 2007
Posts: 200
Location: Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:20 pm Reply with quote
I love that they are trying new things, absolutely. I personally wouldn't use it (two days is way too short, given my schedule), but more power to them. I hope this works out for them, or at least they learn something new to try for the next project.
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agila61



Joined: 22 Feb 2009
Posts: 3213
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:22 pm Reply with quote
krystallinity wrote:
If this plan turns out to be a success I'll be pleasantly surprised, but I have my doubts, regardless if Funimation has "good reasons" for pursuing such a venture.

I think we can take for granted that all the 100% guaranteed successes they have on offer are already being followed up.

And there are two general levels that we can look at it: (1) whether this type of offering might open up a new market opportunity, and (2) whether they have put together a package that can exploit any market opportunity that exists.

Your argument was aimed at (1), at establishing that there is no market opportunity there, by a long chain of what we call "mode-splits" in transport economics.

My point was that partway down the chain, you went off into a cul-de-sac, by assuming that the only people who will ever be interested in episode rentals are those already engaged in episode rentals.

However, the most important channels for online digital rentals are the two big console markets and iTunes, and those channels obviously leave very big gaps in market coverage. It would be like having a national television network with New York and Atlanta and LA but not Boston or Chicago.

As far as (1), what market opportunity they seem like they are chasing up, it seems like its probably people who are not on PSN or the XBox/Zune system or iTunes. And as far as filling that hole in market coverage, I'm still waiting for someone to suggest a channel better than Facebook. Aside from those three, Facebook would seem to be the biggest channel where large numbers of people are used to spending a bit of money online to get something.

As far as (2), whether this is the right package ~ I'm skeptical too. A lot depends on how many and what kind of these 3/4 episode "packs" are $0.99 and how many and what kind of these packs are $3.99, and whether there is a substantial offering at the $1,99 price point.

The whole "rent a pack for two days" also doesn't fit the way that I tend to watch anime, but then if Funimation is working on a Roku channel, they are already working on catering to how I watch most of my anime, so this Facebook thing would be dropping the fishing hook in a different stream than the one that I am swimming in.
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samuelp
Industry Insider


Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 2228
Location: San Antonio, USA
PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:59 pm Reply with quote
Isn't everyone completely missing the picture here?

This isn't about Funimation trying some risky venture... This is a startup Facebook "media" company going out and buying content for their service from Funi.

Chances are good that Funi's getting paid for this no matter what, and it's the Milyoni people who are taking any risk here. Funi gets their content out to more people and a startup Facebook company gets some needed grade A content.

You think the http://www.milyoni.com $11 million dollars of venture capital they just got has something to do with this, perhaps?
I betcha a good little piece of that is heading to Funi as MG right now.
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krystallinity



Joined: 11 Oct 2010
Posts: 21
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:55 am Reply with quote
agila61 wrote:
krystallinity wrote:
If this plan turns out to be a success I'll be pleasantly surprised, but I have my doubts, regardless if Funimation has "good reasons" for pursuing such a venture.

I think we can take for granted that all the 100% guaranteed successes they have on offer are already being followed up.

And there are two general levels that we can look at it: (1) whether this type of offering might open up a new market opportunity, and (2) whether they have put together a package that can exploit any market opportunity that exists.

Your argument was aimed at (1), at establishing that there is no market opportunity there, by a long chain of what we call "mode-splits" in transport economics.

My point was that partway down the chain, you went off into a cul-de-sac, by assuming that the only people who will ever be interested in episode rentals are those already engaged in episode rentals.

However, the most important channels for online digital rentals are the two big console markets and iTunes, and those channels obviously leave very big gaps in market coverage. It would be like having a national television network with New York and Atlanta and LA but not Boston or Chicago.

As far as (1), what market opportunity they seem like they are chasing up, it seems like its probably people who are not on PSN or the XBox/Zune system or iTunes. And as far as filling that hole in market coverage, I'm still waiting for someone to suggest a channel better than Facebook. Aside from those three, Facebook would seem to be the biggest channel where large numbers of people are used to spending a bit of money online to get something.

As far as (2), whether this is the right package ~ I'm skeptical too. A lot depends on how many and what kind of these 3/4 episode "packs" are $0.99 and how many and what kind of these packs are $3.99, and whether there is a substantial offering at the $1,99 price point.

The whole "rent a pack for two days" also doesn't fit the way that I tend to watch anime, but then if Funimation is working on a Roku channel, they are already working on catering to how I watch most of my anime, so this Facebook thing would be dropping the fishing hook in a different stream than the one that I am swimming in.


So Funimation is aiming at people who do not currently rent Anime through some other medium?

That seems to be the basic premise of your argument.

My skepticism lies firmly in the realization that Anime has developed a unique entitlement culture.

It seems like there are three paths for the Anime consumer:

1. Piracy for the sake of convenience and collection
2. Streaming for the sake of convenience and duty
3. DVD/Blu-ray purchasing for the sake of collection and duty

I question the necessity for renting when the Anime consumer satisfies his Anime needs from other avenues.

1. Why rent when you can have the file for free?
2. Why rent when you can stream the episode for free, or pay a nominal amount per month to get the stream in high quality?
3. Why rent when you can buy the physical box, and have it as a collectors item on your shelf or watch it in extremely good quality?

Renting just seems like an outdated method for current fans, and an ineffective method for new fans.

And for the few Anime fans who do decide to rent, they have decided to rent before.

So what if renting isn't adequately covered by other physical or digital outlets? Renting has always been, at best, a supplemental method of Anime consumption.

The Anime fan always finds a way to watch a series or movie if renting was not an option, especially in this day and age where series available through digital rentals are widely found through other distribution models.

I don't think that renting is a viable option in the medium of Anime, so I made the assumption that digital rentals via Facebook don't have a very large audience.
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agila61



Joined: 22 Feb 2009
Posts: 3213
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 10:55 am Reply with quote
krystallinity wrote:
My skepticism lies firmly in the realization that Anime has developed a unique entitlement culture.

But Funimation's current rentals are affected by the same culture. A coherent mode-split would take a different branch, and say: "OK, now out of those people interested in anime, X% are tied into the PSN, Xbox/Zune or iTunes systems, and of that number, Y% rent, and N*X%*Y% = this many people

Now, X'% are outside of the PSN, Xbox/Zune or iTunes systems and are regular Facebook users, X+X'<100. It seems reasonable that N*X'%*Y'% many people might rent who are on Facebook but not on those other systems. Y' might not be identical to Y, but its silly to assume that Y' is 0 when Y is obviously substantially bigger than zero.

That is, sure there is this "entitlement culture" but FUNimation still succeeds in selling to people on the PSN, Xbox/Zune, and iTunes systems, so there is no reason to be confident that they will have no success at all in selling to those outside of those systems who happen to be regular Facebook users.

And, as samuelp notes, its only your assumption that FUNimation is carrying any of the risk here. If the risk is carried by the other partner, then its all upside for FUNimation: they get a minimum guarantee, and if the venture is successful they get extra royalties on top.
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writerpatrick



Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 670
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:14 am Reply with quote
It's always uplifting when big companies waste big money. Maybe they'll waste some on good anime.

Facebook is all right for promotion but not good for video, let alone paid streaming. Funimation already has a webpage which they could sell through which is a much better option.
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Mesonoxian Eve



Joined: 10 Jan 2012
Posts: 1858
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 11:57 am Reply with quote
agila61 wrote:
That is, sure there is this "entitlement culture" but FUNimation still succeeds in selling to people on the PSN, Xbox/Zune, and iTunes systems, so there is no reason to be confident that they will have no success at all in selling to those outside of those systems who happen to be regular Facebook users.

Your statement is comparing apples with oranges. The apps on the consoles are services which allow access to a a buffet of anime titles. I seriously doubt, both opinion and professional, a rental service will do well for FUNimation on these platforms, just as its DTO system didn't work out for its own website.

A rental system, keyed from the current option on YouTube, seems to be more targeted at the "try before you commit" crowd, and I can certainly see why FUNimation's looking to try something to expand a market.

The only issue I have with this plan is if there's a belief these viewers will then turn to buying DVDs, because that's a stretch. I don't discount some would turn, but the entire point of putting content online, especially in a rental capacity, is to perpetuate the extinction of physical based media.

Thus, there's a potential of FUNimation shooting off its own foot with this plan if the goal is to create new DVD buyers. It could very well turn the other way and people believe it's cheaper for them to rent than to buy.

The other benefit of this plan could be to help truncate a few positions of search engine results. Over time, just the presence of the title on Facebook is enough to get Google's search engine algorithms to update accordingly.

There's a very good reason why many businesses put a presence on Facebook, even if they don't use the site often.

Once there's a "+" (or is Facebook the "Like"?), the chain usually grows from there.
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krystallinity



Joined: 11 Oct 2010
Posts: 21
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 3:44 pm Reply with quote
Mesonoxian Eve wrote:
agila61 wrote:
That is, sure there is this "entitlement culture" but FUNimation still succeeds in selling to people on the PSN, Xbox/Zune, and iTunes systems, so there is no reason to be confident that they will have no success at all in selling to those outside of those systems who happen to be regular Facebook users.

Your statement is comparing apples with oranges. The apps on the consoles are services which allow access to a a buffet of anime titles. I seriously doubt, both opinion and professional, a rental service will do well for FUNimation on these platforms, just as its DTO system didn't work out for its own website.

A rental system, keyed from the current option on YouTube, seems to be more targeted at the "try before you commit" crowd, and I can certainly see why FUNimation's looking to try something to expand a market.

The only issue I have with this plan is if there's a belief these viewers will then turn to buying DVDs, because that's a stretch. I don't discount some would turn, but the entire point of putting content online, especially in a rental capacity, is to perpetuate the extinction of physical based media.

Thus, there's a potential of FUNimation shooting off its own foot with this plan if the goal is to create new DVD buyers. It could very well turn the other way and people believe it's cheaper for them to rent than to buy.

The other benefit of this plan could be to help truncate a few positions of search engine results. Over time, just the presence of the title on Facebook is enough to get Google's search engine algorithms to update accordingly.

There's a very good reason why many businesses put a presence on Facebook, even if they don't use the site often.

Once there's a "+" (or is Facebook the "Like"?), the chain usually grows from there.


But what's the point of a "try before you buy" system if there's already legal streaming methods for the titles that provide a much better value? Don't they trump any kind of renting system?

You argue that the renting quality is attempting to emulate the experience of DVD purchases.

I disagree though; the attractiveness of DVD is the collection aspect of it. Do people today truly buy a DVD to watch the series for the first time...or do they buy a DVD to have the Anime in a physical collection?

If streams can provide a near identical experience to renting episodes, why pay $1 to $4 for a bundle of six episodes, when you could pay a $7 per month subscription to Funimation's website and have their entire library of titles available in HD quality with subtitles and dubs included?

Unless, of course, they make some of their titles renting-exclusive, at which point there might be some justification for this move.
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yuna49



Joined: 27 Aug 2008
Posts: 3804
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 4:18 pm Reply with quote
krystallinity wrote:
If streams can provide a near identical experience to renting episodes, why pay $1 to $4 for a bundle of six episodes, when you could pay a $7 per month subscription to Funimation's website and have their entire library of titles available in HD quality with subtitles and dubs included?


Or pay nothing at all and have access to most of Funimation's catalog at Hulu? I'm as averse to commercials as the next person, but two minutes of commercials interspersed among 25 minutes of content seems a small price to pay for free streams.
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agila61



Joined: 22 Feb 2009
Posts: 3213
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:19 pm Reply with quote
Mesonoxian Eve wrote:
agila61 wrote:
That is, sure there is this "entitlement culture" but FUNimation still succeeds in selling to people on the PSN, Xbox/Zune, and iTunes systems, so there is no reason to be confident that they will have no success at all in selling to those outside of those systems who happen to be regular Facebook users.

Your statement is comparing apples with oranges. The apps on the consoles are services which allow access to a a buffet of anime titles.

In what way is it "apples and oranges" to rent or buy downloads on PSN, Xbox/Zune or iTunes and to rent downloads on Facebook?

Or are you assuming that this is a streaming service? The prices sound like digital download rentals to me, especially with 2 day limited time.
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