Crackle, formerly named Grouper and Sony Crackle, is an American video streaming service founded in 2004. The service was purchased by Sony Pictures in 2006 and was renamed as Crackle. In 2018, the name was changed to Sony Crackle.[1] Sony sold a majority stake to Chicken Soup for the Soul in March 2019, and the name was changed back to Crackle.[2][3]
Grouper was founded in 2004 by Josh Felser, Dave Samuel, Mike Sitrin, and Aviv Aiyal. Later, Sony purchased it in August 2006 for $65 million.[4][5] In July 2007, Sony rebranded Grouper as Crackle, a multi-platform video-entertainment network and studio, and in late 2008 appointed Eric Berger as general manager.[5][6][7][8][4]
In March 2011, Crackle launched its streaming services on Bravia TVs, the Playstation 3, Roku boxes, and Sony Blu-ray players. It also partnered with Xbox Live and added its content to Xbox 360.[9][10][11][12]
In January 2012, Crackle added Animax to its content for users in the US and Canada,[12][13] and later by the end of 2013, Animax branding was removed.[14]
On April 1, 2014, Sony Pictures Television ceased its Crackle operations in the UK and Australia.[19][20] In Australia, Crackle became the free-to-air home of Sony's popular American soap operaDays of Our Lives, following the end of its run with the television broadcaster Nine Network.[21] The same month, Crackle announced the creation of Sports Jeopardy!, a sports-themed version of the game show Jeopardy! hosted by Dan Patrick, and a new feature called "Always On," an ad-supported internet television channel similar to Vevo TV.[22]
In 2017, Crackle announced the platform had greenlit an original drama, The Oath, written and created by former Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy Joe Halpin. Executive produced by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and his G-Unit Film & Television Inc., the drama series stars Sean Bean, Ryan Kwanten, Cory Hardrict, Arlen Escarpeta, Katrina Law, and J.J. Soria, and premiered on March 8, 2018.[citation needed]
Sony Crackle logo used from 2018 to 2019
In spring 2018, the company's name was changed to Sony Crackle; in March 2019, Sony sold its majority stake in Sony Crackle to Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, and the name was changed to Crackle again.[2][24] Subsequently, on December 15, 2020, Sony sold its remaining stake in Crackle, giving full control to Chicken Soup for the Soul.[25][26]
In April 2023, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment announced that they will be releasing Crackle Connex, an advertising sales platform for Connex, allowing advertisers to measure and track performance of advertisements on the platform.[27]
On April 23, 2024, Chicken Soup for the Soul announced a $636.6 million loss in 2023, and warned that without any options to generate additional financing, the company may be forced to liquidate or pause operations, and seek a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing. Chicken Soup for the Soul reported a yearly revenue of $104 million with its Crackle brand, a 28% decline.[28]
Programming
Crackle is owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. Other Crackle Plus VOD platforms include Popcornflix (AVOD), Truli, and Pivotshare (SVOD platform).[29] Crackle features programming in the following genres: action, comedy, crime, drama, horror, and sci-fi.
Crackle also features the "Crackle Original" series, including On the Ropes, Going from Broke, Hidden Heroes, The Oath, and Snatch. Crackle's content changes each month as titles are added and taken down.[citation needed]
While it was Sony Crackle, it was available in 21 countries and in three languages: English, Portuguese, and Spanish.[30][16] Currently, Crackle is only available in the US. Crackle was launched in Canada in September 2010.[31][32] In late 2015, several of the service's original series were made available only through the local services Crave TV and Shomi.[33][34] Following the closure of Shomi in the fall of 2016, new productions continued to be released exclusively on Crave TV, as well as Amazon Prime Video and Super Channel (Canada).[35][36][37]
Crackle's Canadian operations were shut down on June 28, 2018, and its content was moved to Bell Media's CTV Movies and CTV Throwback services.[6] Despite Crackle being a Sony owned service, the successor CTV app has not launched on Sony's PlayStation or Smart TV platforms, although it has become available on Microsoft's Xbox One console and Samsung's Smart TVs.[citation needed]
As of late 2016, Crackle in Latin America was only available as an ad-free paid service.[29][38] Subscribers were required to have a pay-TV service provider that had partnered with Sony Crackle in order to access the service.[39] Crackle was discontinued in Latin America on April 30, 2019.[40]
Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by the television network division of Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along with new, first-run original and revived game shows. The network has also previously aired reality competition series and televised poker.
Funimation was an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime and other foreign entertainment properties in North America. It streamed popular series, such as Dragon Ball, One Piece, YuYu Hakusho, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Fairy Tail, Black Clover, Fruits Basket, Assassination Classroom and Tokyo Ghoul among many others. The service and its parent company were acquired by Sony, who ran the service through Sony Pictures Entertainment from 2017 to 2019 and then through SPE and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex from 2019 to its closure in 2024. In 2021, Sony acquired Crunchyroll.
Sony Pictures Television Inc. is an American television production and distribution company. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, California, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainment and a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation.
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment through multiple platforms.
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc. is an American self-help, consumer goods and media company based in Cos Cob, Connecticut. It is known for the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. The first book, like most subsequent titles in the series, consisted of inspirational true stories about ordinary people's lives. The books are widely varied, each with a different theme. Today, Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC continues to publish about twelve new books per year.
Crave is a Canadian premium television network and streaming service owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc.
Redbox Automated Retail, LLC is an American video on-demand streaming and video rental company specializing in DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD rentals and purchases and formerly video games via automated retail kiosks and TVOD, AVOD, and FAST services via its website, Android and iOS apps, and many consumer electronic devices. Redbox kiosks feature the company's signature red color and are located at convenience stores, fast food restaurants, grocery stores, mass retailers, and pharmacies.
Animax Broadcast Japan Inc., stylized as ANIMAX in all caps, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. A subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, it is headquartered in New Pier Takeshiba North Tower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with its co-founders and shareholders including Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan and studios Bandai Namco Filmworks, Toei Animation, TMS Entertainment, and production company Nihon Ad Systems.
Animax is a pay television channel in Asia. It is the first television channel in Asia dedicated to anime, and was initially launched in Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia in January 2004. Formerly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, the channel was sold to KC Global Media Asia on January 1, 2020.
Sony Entertainment, Inc. is the umbrella entertainment division of Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation and managed by its American subsidiary, established in 2012 to oversee the corporation's ventures in film, television and music.
Popcornflix LLC is a website and over-the-top (OTT) service offering free ad-supported streaming video of feature-length movies and webisodes owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment.
SonyLIV is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Culver Max Entertainment. SonyLIV was introduced in 2013 as the first OTT service in India. As a streaming service, it provides live sports, original titles, other content titles from its own networks and content titles in India licensed from third-parties such as Lionsgate and ITV among others. The Sony Liv content library includes films, TV shows, series, and sports.
Shomi was a Canadian subscription video on demand service jointly owned by Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications, in operation from 2014 to 2016. The service was viewed as a Canadian-based competitor to Netflix, with a library of 1,200 films and 11,000 hours' worth of television programs available on launch. Shomi content could be accessed as an over-the-top service through the service's website and apps, or through the video-on-demand libraries of participating television providers. The service emphasized manually curated categories of content, in contrast to the algorithmic approach used by competing services.
Crave is a Canadian subscription video on demand service owned by Bell Media. The service competes directly with other subscription-based over-the-top streaming services operating in Canada, primarily against American-based services.
Tubi is an American over-the-top content platform and ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California.
Animax India was an Indian television channel owned by Sony Pictures Networks India that launched in 2004. The channel primarily aired anime series and films dubbed in Hindi and, for a period, English, as well as with subtitles. It was the only channel in India to simulcast anime series on the same day as Japan. On 18 April 2017, Animax ceased broadcasting in India, with Sony Yay ultimately replacing the network.
Eric Berger is an American media executive. He co-founded and is the CEO of Common Sense Networks, the for-profit arm of Common Sense Media.
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