via TFP
Numbers are usually hard to come by in the anime world and even when we do it’s more anecdotal than firm, but a bit of new information out of AnimeAnime.biz indicates that Crunchyroll is doing what the Japanese licensors had hoped for. With Crunchyroll being at the forefront of legal digital distribution in 2009 when it went that route, it’s carved out a good base that’s seeing more competition coming on ever since, causing them to have to focus more on presentation as well as diversity of product each season. According to the article, Crunchyroll has about 70,000 paying customers at this time, which was revealed during a conference call last week. In reading the piece, it looks as if the company had about 30,000 paying members in the summer of 2010 and has grown significantly over the past year, at the same time that we’ve seen a more pronounced push from The Anime Network, Viz Media, FUNimation and the Japanese entry of Nico Nico.
Not surprisingly, the strong partnership with TV Tokyo has helped to get all of this off the ground and it’s helping to show that overseas delivery of episodes on a weekly basis is a new revenue stream that can be achieved. Even more importantly, though not to the same level as the Japanese see important to deal with in their home region, is that it is cutting down on illegal distribution. No solid numbers are produced, but there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence with fansub groups putting out less, going after fewer shows and in some cases giving up much earlier in the run as the simulcasts grow and are often coming associated with home video licenses through other companies as well.
[Source: AnimeAnime.biz]
Not surprisingly, the strong partnership with TV Tokyo has helped to get all of this off the ground and it’s helping to show that overseas delivery of episodes on a weekly basis is a new revenue stream that can be achieved. Even more importantly, though not to the same level as the Japanese see important to deal with in their home region, is that it is cutting down on illegal distribution. No solid numbers are produced, but there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence with fansub groups putting out less, going after fewer shows and in some cases giving up much earlier in the run as the simulcasts grow and are often coming associated with home video licenses through other companies as well.
[Source: AnimeAnime.biz]
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