Crunchyroll Pacts With Starz for Streaming Bundle

Sony’s Crunchyroll is partnering with Starz on its first traditional streaming bundle to grow its anime streaming service in the U.S. market. The latest industry bundle will see Crunchyroll and Starz offered through Prime Video from Wednesday for $16.99 a month. That represents a 23 percent saving to subscribing to both separately and offers a mix of premium action, anime, thrillers, female-driven dramas, sci-fi and adventure as part of the new bundle. “At Crunchyroll, we believe anime is a powerful medium for storytelling and connection, and our goal is to continue bringing it to more audiences in more accessible ways. This launch is a meaningful step in expanding how fans can discover and connect with the series they love, while opening the door for even more viewers to experience the breadth of anime storytelling,” Terry Li, chief product officer and executive vp, emerging business at Crunchyroll, said in a statement. For Starz, the U.S. cable and streaming brand behind the Outlander and Power franchises, partnering with Crunchyroll after an earlier niche bundle launched with Britbox also aims at greater U.S. market reach. “This offering brings together two services with distinctive programming, giving viewers access to a range of stories and genres. The way households discover and consume television continues to evolve. This bundle with Crunchyroll and Prime Video enables us to broaden our reach and introduce the Starz slate of premium programming to new viewers,” Alison Hoffman, president of Starz Networks, said in a statement. The Crunchyroll and Starz bundle will include access to the Power universe, the Fightland and S.W.A.T. Exiles series and the upcoming crime drama Outlander: Blood of My Blood, the latest from the Outlander franchise. Crunchyroll’s first-ever bundle will also offer anime fans TV series like Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball DAIMA, Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, Afro Samurai, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, My Hero Academia and Cowboy Bebop. New Crunchyroll titles will also include Black Torch, Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3 and Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You. Crunchyroll is a joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Aniplex, the anime production arm of Sony Music Entertainment in Japan.