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Crunchyroll Halts Ad-Supported Streaming on December 31
posted on by Alex Mateo
Only certain titles were available for ad-supported streaming without subscription, including: Cowboy Bebop, Chainsaw Man, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, My Dress-Up Darling, My Hero Academia, One Piece, Soul Eater, Spy×Family, Beast Tamer, Blue Lock, Bocchi the Rock!, Bungo Stray Dogs, Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro, Golden Kamuy, Horimiya, Kaguya-sama: Love is War, Lycoris Recoil, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, Ranking of Kings, The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist In Another World, Vinland Saga, Yona of the Dawn, Blood Blockade Battlefront, Blue Exorcist, Corpse Princess: Shikabane Hime, Deadman Wonderland, Ghost Hunt, Hell's Paradise, Hellsing, Hellsing Ultimate, Higurashi: When They Cry – GOU, How to keep a mummy, Is This a Zombie?, Junji Ito "Collection", Kemono Jihen, Mieruko-chan, The Case Study of Vanitas, The Vampire Dies in No Time, Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, Tokyo Ghoul, Trinity Blood, and Zombie Land Saga.
Crunchyroll had previously announced in March 2022 that it would no longer automatically offer free ad-supported viewing for all shows starting with its spring 2022 season line-up. Crunchyroll instead required that viewers have a subscription to access new and continuing simulcasts. The company added that the first three episodes of each title would be available for ad-supported viewing for a week after their premiere on Crunchyroll until a certain point, and subsequent episodes would be limited to subscribers.
Crunchyroll previously allowed free ad-supported streaming for simulcast titles one week after an episode premiered.
Crunchyroll launched a free ad-supported 24/7 Crunchyroll Channel on the Samsung TV Plus service on 2017–2025 Samsung smart televisions in October. The channel airs anime all day from the company's catalog. Crunchyroll launched on YouTube Primetime Channels in January, distributing over 40 anime on the service in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia. Crunchyroll collaborated with Sony Pictures Entertainment's GSN (Game Show Network) to launch a 24/7 linear channel on Amazon Freevee, LG Channels, the Roku Channel, and VIZIO WatchFree+ first in October 2023. The company expanded its services onto Amazon's Prime Video channels in 2023, where the streaming service is available in the U.S., Canada, Sweden, the U.K. and other territories.
Crunchyroll launched its app on Samsung smart televisions in 2024. The app launched on Whale TVs earlier this month.
The company began offering "specially curated" anime on Delta flights as in-flight entertainment on seatback screens in early November.
Crunchyroll is an independently operated joint venture between U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan's Aniplex. Sony Pictures Entertainment and Aniplex's Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) parent are both in turn subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Sony Group.
Sony's Funimation Global Group completed its acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T on August 9, 2021, after the company first announced the acquisition in December 2020. The purchase price was US$1.175 billion, and the proceeds were paid in cash at closing. Funimation's home video releases are now listed under Crunchyroll.
Source: Crunchyroll via Manga Alerts
