Today it was announced that Sony Pictures Television is selling Sony Crackle to Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment the company who also runs Popcornflix and other streaming services. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment will own a majority of Crackle and Sony will, in turn, receive 4 million worth of stock in Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment.
Sony will still license Sony movies and TV shows to Crackle but will no longer be the majority owner. Sony will also supply technical support for the joint venture as part of this deal. Crackle will now be called Crackle Plus dropping Sony from the name.
“Crackle is a valuable asset and we feel confident it will thrive and grow in this new environment with CSS Entertainment,” noted Mike Hopkins, chairman of SPT. “We were drawn to CSS Entertainment as our partner in this venture because of its aggressive, entrepreneurial approach,” said Hopkins. “The CSS Entertainment team have the enthusiasm and strong business acumen to ensure Crackle Plus is poised to maximize the growing opportunities in the AVOD marketplace.”
“This transaction positions CSS Entertainment as a leader in the high-growth AVOD business,” said William J. Rouhana Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of CSS Entertainment. “Creating a new platform that brings together CSS Entertainment’s VOD assets with SPT’s Crackle brand and AVOD assets, establishes a compelling offering for viewers and advertisers. Consistent with our business plan, we plan to build Crackle Plus aggressively and profitably through organic growth and, potentially, acquisitions.”
Sony first acquired Crackle back in 2006 and recently changed the name to Sony Crackle. Reports are that Eric Berger the current head of Crackle will be leaving the company after this deal closes.
This comes as Crackle dropped to 4th places in our recent survey of the best free streaming services. Popcornflix a service that is already owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment was the 5th most popular streaming services. Here are the recent results of our recent survey of over 3,000 cord cutters:
- The Roku Channel: 41.2%
- Pluto TV: 33.3%
- Tubi: 7.9%
- Sony Crackle: 6.5%
- Popcornflix: 1.2%
- Other: 9.9%
*This is breaking news we will post more as we learn more.
Source: Variety
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