VRV (streaming service)

VRV (officially pronounced "verve", though it is also referred to by its letters) was an American over-the-top streaming service launched in November 2016 by AT&T and the Chernin Group. Owned by Crunchyroll, LLC, run by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex, the service bundled together anime, speculative fiction, educational, and gaming-related channels aimed at fans of such content.^[1]

VRV

Type of site	Video streaming service
Founded	November 14, 2016 (2016-11-14) San Francisco, California
Dissolved	April 29, 2023; 20 months ago (2023-04-29)
Headquarters	San Francisco, California (main) New York City, New York (secondary)
Area served	United States
Owner	AT&T (2016–2021) Sony (2021–2023)
Key people	Arlen Marmel (VRV GM) Tom Pickett (Crunchyroll CEO)
Industry	Video on demand
Parent	WarnerMedia (2018–2021) Crunchyroll, LLC (2021–2023)
URL	Archived official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 2023-04-04)
Registration	Optional
Current status	Defunct (shut down and absorbed into Crunchyroll)

Some of VRV's content could be streamed for free, while other content required a subscription. The subscriptions to its channels were available for purchase individually, or in a premium bundle. VRV was available only in the United States, despite some of its partnered content being available for viewing worldwide outside the platform.

In April 2023, it was announced VRV would merge with Crunchyroll, which was completed later that month.^[2][3]

History

Ellation, owners of Crunchyroll, formally announced the launch of VRV on June 14, 2016. Its initial partners included Rooster Teeth, Seeso, Nerdist, Geek & Sundry, and Frederator's Cartoon Hangover.^[4] On September 29, 2016, Funimation, Adam Savage's Tested, RiffTrax, CollegeHumor, Machinima, Ginx TV, Shudder, and Mondo Media were announced as new partners.^[5] VRV would officially launch on November 14, 2016.^[6]

On August 9, 2017, the VRV Select channel was launched, featuring content from other sources. It was also announced that Machinima, Ginx, and Rifftrax were being dropped from the service.^[7] On the same day as VRV Select's announcement, Seeso announced via its Facebook page that it would be shutting down by the end of 2017.^[8] Though RiffTrax, Machinima and Seeso's channels were dropped, some of their content, including Seeso's The Cyanide & Happiness Show, HarmonQuest, Hidden America with Jonah Ray, and My Brother, My Brother and Me would migrate to VRV Select.^[9]

On November 21, 2017, CuriosityStream and Mubi joined VRV.^[10]

On December 12, 2017, DramaFever joined VRV.^[11]

On May 3, 2018, it was announced that Tested was being dropped, with its content moving to VRV Select.^[12]

On August 28, 2018, VRV launched NickSplat, named after the TeenNick programming block, featuring classic Nickelodeon series from the 1990s and early 2000s.^[13]

On October 12, 2018, Shout! Factory's content, such as Mystery Science Theater 3000 and ReBoot, were made available to watch on VRV Select.^[14]

On October 18, 2018, Funimation announced that they would be leaving VRV, as their partnership with Crunchyroll ended, and all of their titles would disappear on November 9, 2018. On that same day, VRV announced that Hidive would be joining the service to replace Funimation.^[15]

On November 1, 2018, Hidive was launched on VRV and it was announced that Boomerang would be joining the service on November 13, 2018.^[16]

On November 7, 2018, season 1 of TBS's Final Space was made available to watch on VRV Select.^[17] On the same day, Otter Media announced Mike Tyson Mysteries and Jabberjaw were also going to be added to VRV in 2018.^[18][19]

On August 9, 2021, Crunchyroll was acquired by Sony-owned Funimation, making Sony the new owner of VRV.^[20][21]

On September 8, 2021, Hidive announced that it would be leaving VRV on September 30, 2021.^[22] On December 13, 2021, Rooster Teeth left VRV.^[23] Cartoon Hangover was also removed at the same time.^[24]

On March 1, 2022, it was announced that VRV would be merged into Crunchyroll itself, alongside Funimation and Wakanim.^[25] VRV ceased operations on April 29, 2023.^[2][3]

Channels

• Boomerang–Cartoons from Warner Bros. (left December 1, 2020)
• Cartoon Hangover—Web-original cartoons from Frederator Studios (left December 13, 2021)
• Crunchyroll—Anime and simulcasts (left April 29, 2023)
• CuriosityStream—Non-fiction documentaries relating to science, technology, nature, and world history (left November 19, 2019)
• DramaFever—Korean dramas (shut down on October 16, 2018, subsequently left VRV days after)
• Funimation—Japanese anime dubbed into English (left November 9, 2018)
• Geek & Sundry—Geek culture and lifestyle programming (left April 1, 2019)
• Ginx TV—Esports-related content
• Hidive—Dubbed and subtitled anime (left September 30, 2021)
• Machinima—gaming-related content (some content was still available via VRV Select)
• Mondo Media—Adult animation (left May 8, 2023)
• Mubi—Curates classic and arthouse films (left October 2018)
• Nerdist—Fandom-related news, podcasts, and comedy programming (left April 1, 2019)
• NickRewind—Television series from Nickelodeon that aired in the 1990s and early 2000s (left August 29, 2020)
• RiffTrax—MST3K-style movie commentaries (some content was still available via VRV Select)
• Rooster Teeth—Web animation and gaming-related content (left December 13, 2021)
• Seeso—original and licensed comedy programming (shut down on November 8, 2017, some original programming were migrated to VRV Select)
• Shudder—Horror films (left August 1, 2019)
• Tested (left May 3, 2018, some content was still available via VRV Select)
• VRV Select—A curated selection of movies and shows for premium subscribers (left April 29, 2023)

Original programming

Series

Title	Genre	Premiere	Seasons/episodes	Status
Shadowstone Park[a]	Animation	December 15, 2017	1 season, 3 episodes	Ended
Slug Riot	Animation	January 5, 2018	1 season, 5 episodes	Ended
(not) Hero[a]	Animated comedy/Adventure	February 9, 2018	1 season, 3 episodes	Ended
Paradigms: How We Know What We Know	Science documentary	March 2, 2018	1 season, 1 episodes	Ended
Chris P. Duck	Animated comedy/Slice of life		1 season, 6 episodes	Ended
Gary and His Demons[b]	Adult animation/Comedy	April 15, 2018	1 season, 16 episodes	Moved to Prime Video (internationally) and Freevee (United States)[26]
Daddy and the Big Boy[b]	Adult animation/Comedy	October 16, 2018	1 season, 13 episodes	Ended
Allen's Pole	Adult animation/adventure		1 season, 4 episodes	Ended
Brogan: Master of Castles[b]	Adult animation/Comedy	March 26, 2019	1 season, 6 episodes	Ended
Live From WZRD	Talk show	March 31, 2019	1 season, 8 episodes	Ended
Bigfoot[b]	Adult animation/Comedy	September 29, 2019	1 season, 8 episodes	Ended
Epithet Erased[c]	Animated comedy/adventure	November 8, 2019	1 season, 7 episodes	Ended

Continuations

Title	Genre	Previous network	Premiere	Seasons/episodes	Status
HarmonQuest (seasons 2–3)	Adult animation/Live improvisation	Seeso	September 15, 2017	2 seasons, 20 episodes	Ended
Deep Space 69 (season 4)	Adult animation/Comedy	YouTube	December 22, 2017	1 season, 8 episodes	Ended
Bravest Warriors (season 3-4)	Animated comedy/Science fiction	YouTube	December 25, 2017	2 seasons, 58 episodes	Ended
Turbo Fantasy (season 2)	Adult animation/Comedy	YouTube	August 27, 2018	1 season, 3 episodes	Ended
The Cyanide & Happiness Show (season 4)	Adult animation/Comedy	Seeso	September 18, 2019	1 season, 10 episodes	Ended

See also

• Anime on Demand
• Crunchyroll
• Wakanim
• List of streaming media services

Notes

1. Was available through Cartoon Hangover Select.
2. Was available through Mondo's VRV channel.
3. Episodes were uploaded to YouTube two weeks after they premiered on VRV.

References

1. Orsini, Lauren (January 19, 2017). "Streaming App VRV Wants To Be Netflix For Geeks". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
2. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (April 4, 2023). "VRV Streaming Service Bundle Merges with Crunchyroll". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
3. "MAKE THIS GOODBYE MORE OF A SEE YOU SOON". VRV. Archived from the original on April 30, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
4. Baumgartner, Jeff (June 14, 2016). "Ellation's 'VRV' Platform Sets Sights on SVOD Surge". Multichannel News. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
5. "Ellation Announces Eight New Channel Partners for VRV, a Video Platform Built for Fans". Marketwired. September 29, 2016. Archived from the original on April 4, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
6. Romano, Aja (November 17, 2016). "New streaming app VRV aims to unite the best of the geek internet under one roof". Vox. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
7. Baumgartner, Jeff (August 9, 2017). "VRV Tunes In New Curated OTT Channel". Multichannel News. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
8. Ha, Anthony (August 9, 2017). "NBCUniversal is shutting down Seeso, its streaming service for comedy fans". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
9. Petski, Denise (August 9, 2017). "Seeso Makes It Official: Will Shut Down "Later This Year"". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
10. Trumbore, Dave (November 21, 2017). "VRV to Add MUBI and CuriosityStream, Along with Offline Viewing". Collider. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
11. Baumgartner, Jeff (December 12, 2017). "VRV Adds DramaFever to SVOD Lineup". Multichannel News. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
12. Yasushi, Matt (May 4, 2018). "Tested Changes on VRV". VRV. Archived from the original on September 1, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
13. "Nickelodeon and VRV Launch NickSplat SVOD Channel". Animation World Network. August 28, 2018. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
14. VRV [@WatchVRV] (October 12, 2018). "A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR FRIENDS AT @ShoutFactory FOR ALL THIS AND MORE!" (Tweet). Retrieved October 12, 2018 – via Twitter.
15. Ressler, Karen (October 18, 2018). "Funimation, Crunchyroll End Content-Sharing Partnership (Update)". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 18, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
16. Bouma, Luke (November 1, 2018). "VRV Adds Classic Cartoons Thanks to a Partnership With Boomerang". Cord Cutters News. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
17. Trumbore, Dave (November 7, 2018). "'Final Space' Season 1 Now Available to Stream Exclusively on VRV". Collider. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
18. Milligan, Mercedes (November 7, 2018). "VRV Adds 'Final Space,' 'Mike Tyson Mysteries,' 'Jabberjaw' from WarnerMedia". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
19. "Conan O'Brien's 'Final Space' Finds Exclusive SVOD Home on VRV". Animation World Network. November 7, 2018. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
20. Mateo, Alex (August 9, 2021). "Sony's Funimation Global Group Completes Acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 9, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
21. Mateo, Alex (August 13, 2021). "Crunchyroll Confirms VRV as Part of Sony Following Acquisition". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on August 15, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
22. "WHAT DOES HIDIVE'S VRV EXIT MEAN FOR YOU? START WITH OUR FAQ". HIDIVE. September 8, 2021. Archived from the original on September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
23. Nick N. (December 13, 2021). "What is happening to Rooster Teeth". VRV. Archived from the original on January 2, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
24. Nick N. (December 13, 2021). "What is happening to Cartoon Hangover?". VRV. Archived from the original on January 2, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
25. "Funimation Content Moving to Crunchyroll for World's Largest Anime Library". Crunchyroll. March 1, 2022. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
26. Layton, Mark (April 13, 2022). "Amazon expands Canadian originals, with 'Gary And His Demons' revival & Tragically Hip docuseries". Television Business International. Retrieved April 15, 2022.

External links

• Official website (archive)