Otter Media Holdings, LLC was an American digital media company owned by
Warner Bros. Discovery. The company was founded in 2014 by
AT&T and
The Chernin Group as a holding company of the anime streaming service,
Crunchyroll who the latter invested in 2013.
In January 2016, Otter Media invested in
Van Toffler (former CEO of
Viacom Media Networks Music Group) and Floris Bauer's Gunpowder & Sky, a digital content company, which eventually merged with FilmBuff.[8] 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; the company was later sold to a media company backed by the Blackstone Group.[9][10]
In January 2018, Otter Media bought the remaining stake in Ellation, the owner of
VRV and
Crunchyroll, and integrated it as Otter Media's Consumer Division.[5] On June 20, 2018, Recode reported that AT&T was close to buying out Chernin's stake in Otter Media, on the heel of its acquisition of Time Warner (whose digital media holdings included
Machinima).[11] On August 7, 2018, AT&T announced their acquisition of Chernin Group's stake in Otter Media for an undisclosed amount, believed to be around $1 billion.[12] On August 22, 2018, Ellation formed Ellation Studios, a production studio with facilities in both the U.S. and Japan, to produce original content for Crunchyroll and VRV.[13][14] On December 4, 2018, Otter announced a broad restructuring that would result in the layoff of about ten percent of its staff. As part of the reorganization, Machinima, which had been part of Warner Bros. Digital Networks, was re-organized under Otter Media. Ellation will now house Rooster Teeth, Crunchyroll, and VRV, while Machinima became a unit of Fullscreen.[15][16][17]
On March 4, 2019, following the reconstruction of WarnerMedia's businesses, Otter Media became part of
Warner Bros. Entertainment.[18] However, on May 31, it was transferred to the WarnerMedia Entertainment division in order to oversee
HBO Max.[19] In September 2019, Crunchyroll announced it had acquired a majority stake in
Viz Media Europe from
Hitotsubashi Group,[20] and later rebranded Viz Media Europe as
Crunchyroll SAS.[21][22] As a result, the Ellation name was moved from being Otter Media's Consumer Division to Crunchyroll's subsidiary in Moldova,[23] and VRV was made a brand of Crunchyroll.[24]
On December 9, 2020,
Sony-owned
Funimation Global Group, LLC announced its acquisition of Crunchyroll from Otter Media for $1.175 billion. The deal was finalized on August 9, 2021.[25]
^"Ellation". LinkedIn. Retrieved April 3, 2020. Ellation (a Crunchyroll company) was formerly the Consumer Division of WarnerMedia's Otter Media, which included industry leading brands Crunchyroll, Rooster Teeth, and VRV. We are transitioning the Ellation company name to focus on our team in Chișinău, Moldova.