Cinedigm has announced the launch of CONtv Anime, a new 24/7 linear and AVOD network dedicated to streaming Japanese Anime films and series. This comes after Cinedigm acquired global streaming service Viewster, which led to the recent surge of Anime viewership on Cinedigm’s flagship platform CONtv.
CONtv Anime begins streaming today, 9 June, across CONtv’s widespread footprint of more than 120 million connected devices and platforms including Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, iOS Android, Vizio, and others. The channel will be available embedded into additional platforms and Smart TV brands across North America over the coming quarter.
Cinedigm Networks president Erick Opeka said, “According to the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation, the global market for Anime exceeds more than $19 billion dollars annually, and as evidenced by the popularity of the genre on top SVOD platforms like Netflix and HBOmax, Anime has gone mainstream. Our goal is to provide consumers an amazing, fan-curated channel, 100 per cent for free, deeply embedded into their favourite devices around the globe.”
Cinedigm will also rebrand and transition the programming of Viewster, the global ad-supported streaming service Cinedigm acquired in 2019, into CONtv Anime in the coming weeks, providing an additional footprint of more than 175M connected televisions and devices globally, including major brands such as Philips, TCL, Vizio, LG, Sharp, Magnavox, Sony, Hisense and Vestel, and many more.
Following the launch and transition, CONtv Anime will be available on the majority of major devices and television brands worldwide, reaching approximately 295 million devices globally.
“As consumption of free, ad-supported content continues to skyrocket, Cinedigm is well positioned to meet the demand by drawing on our library of more than 30,000 films and episodes. With that in mind, we seek to dramatically grow our portfolio of networks over the next 18 months all focused on specific demographics and interests. We want to fully meet the needs of consumers while delivering great results to our advertising partners,” commented Cinedigm Networks general manager Tony Huidor.
CONtv Anime features 24/7 programming of anime content for anime enthusiasts alike, focusing on a diverse range of genres spanning from cyberpunk and the supernatural, to tense dramas, epic fantasy sagas, and everything in-between. Featuring content from top tier Anime producers, CONtv Anime viewers can enjoy a wide selection of popular offerings presented in English or with dubbing. Popular titles include Bubblegum Crisis, AD Police, Vampire Princess Miyu, as well as a library of hard-to-find classic and cult hits, recent releases, fan-favourites, and acclaimed anime films and series.
The launch is to expand Cinedigm’s brand, CONtv, the digital entertainment network showcasing the best in genre and fandom movies and television series. Over the last year, CONtv has also become one of the largest digital comics destinations in the world with more than 10,000 titles, via direct relationships with most major independent comic book publishers, providing unprecedented access to a growing roster of premium comics and graphic novels such as The Boys, Transformers, Star Trek, Judge Dredd, Bloodshot, Bob’s Burgers, and Vampirella, among thousands of others.
