State of the Anime Market in North America

We are presently down to just five major anime publishers, and a handful of minor publsihers, on this continent due to massive behind the scenes moves by big corporate players attempting to corner the market for themselves. These players are.:
AMC Networks (Sentai Filmworks and HiDive)
Eastern Star (Discotek)
Media Blasters (Anime Works and Kitty Media)
Sony (Crunchyroll/Funimation and Aniplex USA)
Viz

Of these five companies, Viz is a wholly owned Japanese company, and Sony is a publicly traded Japanese company. AMC, Eastern Star, and Media Blasters are all U.S.A. based companies.

Not even considering worldwide buyouts of other anime releated companies, in the North American market Sony has always owned Aniplex USA, but has gobbled up all of the following anime companies here within the past four years.:
Cruchyroll
Funimation
Harmony Gold
Manga Entertainment
Nozomi Entertainment
The Right Stuf International

Sony is presently working on consolidating all operations of these companies under the "Crunchyroll" umbrella. At present time, they have already completely dismantled and eradicated Manga Entertainment, and are in the process of dismantling Funimation and Nozomi Entertainment. Harmony Gold is now merely a company existing on paper-only to keep non-expiring licenses alive that give Sony their much coveted access to forcing Tetsunoku Productions to deal with them, as Tetsunoku's owner's absolutely hate Sony Corporation. And we had day one confirmation that The Right Stuf International will cease to exist within two years time, with announced plans to merge whatever remains of the business within that time into Crunchyroll, as the Crunchyroll web store. Aniplex USA has thus far managed to not get merged in, but it's very likely that by this time next year Sony may opt to simply closedown Aniplex USA as it makes no sense for it to exist as it no longer offers anything unique to the company's North American operations portfolio.

Elsewhere in the world Sony has acquired the following anime related companies since 2015.:
Madman Anime Group (Australia)
Manga Entertainment Ltd. (Britain)
Wakanim (France)
(purchase pending) Zee Entertainment Enterprises (India)

All of this is part of Sony's grand plan to kill, err, control all anime consumed outside of Japan, as was disclosed in the following linked and quoted business news article from just shy of two years ago.

Source: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Med...rld-with-anime

Quote:

Sony sets out to conquer entertainment world with anime
Sector primed to take center stage among the group's studio businesses

DAIKI HIRAOKA, Nikkei staff writer
August 8, 2020 13:00 JST
TOKYO -- Sony will leverage the combined strength of group companies to expand
its animation business overseas, making it the fourth pillar of its entertainment
portfolio after music, movies and games.

"Our group wants to contribute to delivering Japanese anime to fans worldwide,"
said Sony President Kenichiro Yoshida at a strategy meeting on May 19, describing
animation as a "business that embodies the 'One Sony' concept."
Sony unit Aniplex is behind "Kimetsu no Yaiba," or "Demon Slayer," an anime
series that stormed Japan and has now launched abroad. The conglomerate aims to
make anime a new growth engine through multichannel sales of not only the
productions but all intellectual property associated with them.

Aniplex hosted an online anime event on July 4-5, giving glimpses of "Demon
Slayer" and another hit "Fate/Grand Order" to fans around the world.
Dubbed Aniplex Online Fest, the livestreaming show drew about 840,000 people
during its two-day run, with views reaching 1.85 million. It attracted nearly six
times as many people as AnimeJapan, the country's main anime event that drew
146,500 people last year.

(see attached info image #1)

Aniplex Online Fest revealed parts of Sony's global strategy: It was streamed on
YouTube and Chinese video-sharing website Bilibili. Sony has worked with the
latter on content distribution and decided in April to invest $400 million in the
platform. Distribution in English and Chinese -- two languages guaranteed to reach
consumers around the world -- will maximize export potential.

Sony is not just looking at the entertainment side of anime, but at residuals too.
Successful productions generate loyal fans, making for intellectual properties that
rivals cannot exploit. Related merchandise, such as movies, games and music, can
turn into vast revenue streams. "A hit anime series creates a large and long-lasting
fan base, allowing us to profit from diverse sources," says Yoshinori Saito, senior
general manager in charge of entertainment.

Unlike specialized streaming services and other content providers, the Sony group
blankets the entire anime sector: Aniplex is a production company; Sony
Interactive Entertainment sells PlayStation; Animax Broadcast Japan is the
country's largest fee-based anime channel; and Funimation is the biggest Japanese
anime distributor in the U.S. Meanwhile, Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) has an
exclusive label for anime songs.

This multipronged approach is vital for forays into overseas markets.
The anime business has already become a key revenue engine. Aniplex had a
cumulative operating profit of 124.8 billion yen ($1.18 billion) in the three years
through March 2020. This is close to the 163.9 billion yen of Sony's movie business
in the same period, though direct comparisons of the two are difficult due to
different accounting methods. Sony does not disclose earnings of its anime
segment, but profit grows when earnings from related games, music and movies are
included.

Aniplex has its own formula for generating strong earnings, squeezing profit
through multiple channels including music and games. "Fate/Grand Order" is a
good example. A mobile game spun off from the series became a smash hit and was
the top seller in Japan in 2019 with sales of 71.1 billion yen, according to gaming
magazine Famitsu.

Now Sony is banking on "Demon Slayer" for even greater success. Aniplex
President Atsuhiro Iwakami wants to make the series a showpiece of Aniplex's
prowess. It has already turned the manga into a successful anime, and will now
follow with a movie version due out in theaters this summer. Units of Sony will also
morph the anime into games for mobile and PlayStation 4, with the possibility of
promoting it abroad.

The anime units have become very competitive by focusing on core strengths, with
Animax highlighting what it calls the 4 Os: on air, on demand, on ground and
original production. This strategy is intended to maximize the value of intellectual
property and raise average revenue per user. Most of the emphasis is on original
production, with the company merging different teams in July to bolster this
capability.

Masao Takiyama, president of Animax, the group's broadcasting channel, has said
he wants the company to follow Walt Disney's business model, though on a smaller
scale. Disney's success hinges on its multichannel business model comprised of
animated movies supported by related merchandise and theme parks. The Disney
Plus streaming service was launched last year to beef up the business.

Sony has traditionally given group companies a long leash when it comes to content
and services, but this approach has resulted in some inefficiencies as its units
tended to buy overseas businesses without coordination.

Aniplex acquired a stake in French streaming service provider Wakanim in 2015
and bought Australian distribution company Madman Anime Group in 2017. Sony
Pictures Television Networks, an American unit, purchased Funimation the same
year. Aniplex and SPT announced in September 2019 that they will merge the three
companies and manage them through a joint venture in a head-to-head challenge
to Disney and Netflix.

In a sweeping organizational change slated for April 2021, Sony will be called Sony
Group, with all units placed under one umbrella. This is planned to make it easier
to nurture individual companies for the greater good. Anime is set to be the test
case as to whether the new approach works.

A strategy for the anime business is already unfolding. In July, Sony invested $250
million in Epic Games, the U.S. operator of multiplayer online game Fortnite. The
game has since become a multimedia platform, with live music events integrated
with the game.

Sony hopes its investments will lay the groundwork for more anime content and a
larger fan base while supporting Epic Games' global expansion. Similarly,
investment in Bilibili is intended to develop Sony's presence in the Chinese anime
market.

Technology is another important tool. Sony and Animax are jointly developing a
system that enables voice actors to dub remotely. Dubbing is usually done with
several people in a soundproof chamber. The coronavirus pandemic has made this
impossible, causing delays in production.

Sony is using its advanced technology to facilitate collaboration between voice
actors in separate locations. The success of this hinges on whether Sony and
partner Animax can develop a system with minimal latency as well as recording
equipment that can ensure high sound quality regardless of surroundings. Included
in the system is a video feed that lets actors watch the same images at the same
time.

Yoshida wants Sony to "evolve as a technology-backed creative entertainment
company." Part of this entails haptic technology, which can infuse anime with a
sense of touch. Sony has already developed this to the point where users can feel
raindrops fall or notice a tap on the shoulder. Now, Sony and Animax are working
on ways to allow voice actors and fans to interact via haptics.

(see attached info image #2)

The technology could be used by Animax voice actors for its Showroom
livestreaming service. Actors would wear a special vest, receiving haptic feedback
when viewers shower them with virtual gifts. This is seen as a way to add value to
Sony's online entertainment, especially as live events have dwindled due to the
coronavirus.

The overseas market for Japanese amine continues to grow. Sales outside Japan
stood at nearly 1.01 trillion yen in 2018, having tripled from 2014, according to the
Association of Japanese Animations. But competition is heating up, with Netflix
looking to release more Japanese anime. The American company is already
stepping up its content production network.

Very interesting and informative post!

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