To watch anime, chances are that you use your Internet connection to log on to a platform like Crunchyroll. But thanks to a new partnership, you might see soon be seeing more anime right on your cable/satellite service.
Crunchyroll × Adult Swim
Last week, Crunchyroll and Adult Swim announced they’re moving forward with their partnership and taking it further, making Crunchyroll a “premiere content partner”. Crunchyroll’s general manager, Joanne Waage, said, “Expect new co-productions, expanded distribution of dubs, and generally more accessible anime!”
This isn’t their first team-up though. In November 2018, the two revealed they were working with a studio on an anime series set in the Blade Runner universe. Dubs like Mob Psycho 100 have also made their way to Adult Swim’s Toonami block.
While this is considered a partnership, it’s not a deal between two completely separate organizations. Both are owned by WarnerMedia, created as a result of the AT&T-Time Warner merger. In fact, the two brands are in the same division: Global Kids & Young Adults. That covers everything from RWBY to Fred Flintstone to Bugs Bunny to the upcoming Blade Runner – Black Lotus are under the same umbrella at WarnerMedia.
Is Crunchyroll Needed on TV?
That’s why I found this news to be completely expected. Obviously, while rights for (Japanese-made) anime will be different than making new Bugs Bunny cartoons, this deal is essentially what many other channels are doing: having their streaming sites create new content and then later airing them on TV. We often think of shows being made for TV and then showing up online the next day, but channels like Boomerang (originally a spin-off of Cartoon Network, Adult Swim’s host) are notorious for this. In some ways, it makes more sense. Viewers who really want to see a show will fork over the money to watch online (or watch ads), but cable/satellite owners will often just watch whatever is on.
On the other hand, streamers generally have to do more active searching. How would someone find Crunchyroll without searching for the word “anime”? That’s where Toonami comes in. Someone watching Family Guy on Saturday night may just leave the TV on and then end up seeing Boruto an hour later. Then there’s the possibility they’ll Google it afterward and then watch the previous episodes on Crunchyroll. Dragon Ball Super, which airs before Boruto, streams on Funimation, a Sony subsidiary. No doubt that WarnerMedia would rather air shows that encourages TV watchers to look up shows available on Crunchyroll, which means they may get money from a viewer from both their cable/satellite package and either a paid or free Crunchyroll membership. Hence the “premiere content partner” label.
I’m sure some Funimation shows will remain on TV for a while, as shows like Sword Art Online Alicization are still split between WarnerMedia’s Crunchyroll and Sony’s Funimation as well as airing on Toonami. The two companies may always want to work together on occasion (Adult Swim for the exposure, Funimation for the actual dubbing process and home video rights), as they still are connected through ownership of GSN. Sony, Funimation’s parent, has very few television channels to launch a Toonami-like block; they do own the anime channel Animax, which is currently unavailable in the US.
This Answerman column also goes into why, as he calls this deal, a “no-brainer”, and he’s right. WarnerMedia is already paying for Crunchyroll to stream their anime shows; getting dub rights as well as TV rights is probably minimal compared to the bidding war for getting the license (or paying to be a part of the production committee) in the first place.
Adult Swim and Cartoon Network
The only thing I’m really surprised about is that Adult Swim is still piggybacking off of Cartoon Network. I thought the two would have separated years ago. But I thought it was more likely in the last year or two when Boomerang underwent yet more retooling. I remember Boomerang originally launching with much of the classic Saturday morning cartoons like the Hanna-Barbera catalog and Bugs Bunny, but it’s bounced around between focusing on the 2010s, 1990s, and pre-80s. In my perfect world, there would be three WarnerMedia (what once was Time Warner) channels:
- Cartoon Network: most of their new shows but also The Splat-like blocks of 90s programming (Dexter’s Laboratory)
- Adult Swim: Toonami anime block as well as their current Western lineup (Family Guy)
- Boomerang: most of the classic catalog Hanna-Barbera/Warner lineup as well as any current incarnations (Scooby-Doo and Looney Tunes franchises)
I’d also could see Cartoon Network being post-2000s and Boomerang being pre-2000s, but I think including new shows would prevent it from becoming (like it has in the past) Cartoon Network’s dumping ground.
Either way, currently, Boomerang spends about 8 hours a day on the Tom & Jerry franchise, which is ridiculous. WarnerMedia owns enough rights to fill up some of those hours with other stuff, but I guess that’s how they get people to pay for to their on-demand version of Boomerang.
It’s especially surprising Adult Swim hasn’t been launched as its own channel now that Canada is getting its own Adult Swim network. The Canadian Adult Swim is not run by WarnerMedia and is actually going to be a rebranding of another channel. No anime is listed in the press release, but it does mention that it is going to “mirror” the US version.
Final Thoughts
Well, even if the US never gets its own 24-hour Adult Swim, at least anime fans can look forward to the Toonami block continuing thanks to last week’s announcement. Although Adult Swim is already the #1 network for 18-34 year olds and has been for over a decade, keep supporting it, and maybe WarnerMedia will finally give it its own channel number. Then more Crunchyroll shows can make the jump to fill up the 24 hours.