The Roku Channel has added AsianCrush to its linear channel lineup in the U.S.

AsianCrush, which provides Pan-Asian entertainment programming, was picked up by The Roku Channel in December in Canada. It joins a list of channels from Digital Media Rights already on The Roku Channel in the U.S., including RetroCrush, Midnight Pulp and Coroco.

DMR was recently acquired by Cinedigm, boosting its clout with distributors.

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“Our relationship with The Roku Channel in the U.S. and Canada has been mutually-beneficial since it began nearly two years ago, and we’re pleased to find new opportunities to utilize what each company does best,” said John Stack, DMR’s director of digital distribution and content strategy. “We believe The Roku Channel users will enjoy viewing the wide variety of Asian entertainment that AsianCrush consistently delivers, and are delighted to be expanding the reach of this popular, premium content.”  ■

Cinedigm said that it agreed to pay $22 million to acquire Digital Media Rights, a streaming, advertising and content distribution company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that became available Friday.

DMR announced the transaction Thursday, but the purchase price was not disclosed.

According to the filing, the $22 million purchase price will consist of $8 million in chase and $14 million in Cinedigm Class A common stock. 

Also: Cinedigm’s Streaming Strategy Starts to Pay Off

The sellers were listed as DMR founder and CEO David Chu, Augustine Hong, Helen Hong, Michael Hong, Justin Lee, Steven Park and Kingsoon Ong. 

The acquisition expands the number of streaming services Cinedigm has and the amount of content it has in its library.

The deal also puts Cinedigm in the ad sales business. DMR’s Ad Network & Marketplace generates more than 100 million connected TV impressions a month. ■

Cinedigm said it agreed to acquire Digital Media Rights, which will add 10 new channels and additional content to Cinedigm’s growing streaming stable.

Financial terms were not disclosed. A source familiar with the deal said the pricetag was in the $20 million to $25 million range, with DMR generating a profit on about $10 million in annual revenues

The addition of DMR’s assets will give Cinedigm 30 subscription and free streaming services that accumulate 40 million monthly viewers and more than 4 billion views.

Also: Cinedigm’s Streaming Strategy Starts to Pay Off

The acquisition also takes Cinedigm into the ad network business. DMR’s Ad Network & Marketplace scores more than 100 million connected TV impressions a month, the companies said.

“DMR’s top-notch management team, high-quality channels and film & TV library perfectly complement our own strengths and our mission of serving enthusiast audiences,” said Chris McGurk, chairman and CEO at Cinedigm.

“When you consider the other key additive components from this deal, including the global reach of DMR’s expansive social media efforts, we are well-positioned to not only reach a rapidly growing new audience in the short-term but also to expand the scale of a larger Cinedigm umbrella channel strategy in the long run. We expect this acquisition to be immediately accretive, and the leverage of Cinedigm’s technological efficiencies and expansive portfolio of assets will spur significant additional growth,” McGurk said. 

Also: Cinedigm Chops Net Loss as Streaming Business Jumps

The deal will increase the size of Cinedigm's content library to more than 46,000 hours of films and TV episodes. Much of the content is Asian and anime, which are becoming increasingly popular and valuable.

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DMR's streaming networks are AsianCrush, Midnight Pulp, RetroCrush, Cinehouse, Cocoro and KMTV. DMR's social media unit's channels are C-Crush, Cinehouse Romance, K-Crush and QTTV.

"The strong synergy between Cinedigm and DMR is readily apparent, and by working together, we can continue to deliver and further scale our top-notch, curated streaming channels to our audiences in a way that builds a true sense of community,” said David Chu, co-founder and CEO of DMR. 

“The team at DMR is proud to have built an impressive lineup of channels and offer content that can meet the rising demands of audiences around the world, including fans of incredibly popular Korean dramas, Japanese anime, and Chinese TV, as well as arthouse, romance and horror movies,” said Chu. “It's why we're thrilled to align with this key industry player and are looking forward to a future with even more expansion opportunities."■

Digital Media Rights said it launched three digital linear channel on Vizio TV’s SmartCast platform.

The channels are RetroCrush, Midnight Pulp and Coroco.

“The DMR team is excited to be working with and launching three of our channels on VIZIO SmartCast, one of the nation’s leading TV streaming platforms,” said John Stack, director of digital distribution and content strategy at DMR. “By adding RetroCrush offering the best of classic Japanese anime, Cocoro providing premium content for families on the go, and Midnight Pulp streaming all things strange, VIZIO SmartCast audiences will have even more compelling content to consider for their viewing pleasure.”

DMR owns and operates seven OTT channels and has a catalog of more than 7,500 titles from TV networks, studios, producers and sales agents that it distributes via Amazon, Hulu Netflix cable VOD, iTunes, Tubi, Pluto TV and other platforms.

Vizio is a leading smart TV maker, It’s SmartCast offers a growing roster of free-ad supported channels to viewers.

Digital Media Rights said it made a deal with Pluto TV to launch a RetroCrush-branded block of programming on Pluto TV’s Anime All Day channel.

The block will start streaming on March 4 at 8 p.m. ET and will feature anime television series from the 70s, 80s and 90s on the free, ad supported service.

DMR launched RetroCrush as a digital channel devoted to classic anime in March 2020.

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“DMR’s goal for RetroCrush from day one has been to utilize our vast library to provide anime fans with the world’s best series and films. We have done so by launching RetroCrush first as a social media channel, then a standalone OTT service, and then a free ad supported linear channel,” said John Stack, DMR director, digital distribution and content strategy. “Now, and in that same spirit, we’re showing our flexibility as an independent media company to be able to offer Pluto TV an engaging block of classic anime programming to its expanding audience.”

The RetroCrush programming block will appear Thursday and Sunday nights.

Titles include Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier, GoShogun: The Time Étranger, Saint Seiya: Evil Goddess Eris, Saint Seiya: Legend of Crimson Youth,Saint Seiya: The Heated Battle of the Gods, Saint Seiya: Warriors of the Final Holy Battle, GoShogun, Dragon Half, Yamibo: Darkness, The Hat and the Travelers of the Books,Ramen Fighter Miki, Love Hina Again and Honey and Clover. 

Digital Media Rights said it signed an agreement with Tezuka Production to get the SVOD, VOD, AVOD and digital linear rights in the U.S. for several classic anime titles including Astroboy and Black Jack. 

The shows will initially air on DMR's RetroCrush channel starting June. 5.

“It is an honor to bring a touch of the genius of the late Osamu Tezuka to our newly launched RetroCrush platform," said DMR co-founder and CEO David Chu. "Anime aficionados across North America will be thrilled to once again enjoy these incredible programs. New fans will have the opportunity to learn why Mr. Tezuka has been called the Walt Disney of Japan.” 

Other shows and movies in the deal include Ambassador Magma, A Time Slip of 10,000 Years: Prime Rose, Undersea Super Train: Marine Express, One Million-Year Trip: Bander Book, Dear Brother, Jungle Emperor--The Brave Changes the Future and Moby Dick--Great Whale in Space.

RetroCrush, launched in March, is devoted to streaming classic anime TV and movies. It is available with new VOD apps on iOS, Android, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV and smart TVs. It’s also available at www.retrocrush.com.

DMR operates six OTT channels including Asian Crush, Midnight Pulp and KMTV.

Digital Media Rights has more than 8,000 TV shows and movies under license, and it’s moving ahead with an ambitious plan to put them all to good use amid the rise of over-the-top video consumption.

DMR, which already distributes some of its fare through digital deals with Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix, has plans to launch six subscription-based over-the-top services before year-end.

Following the earlier debuts of two of those services — Midnight Pulp (horror and thriller titles, relaunched in February) and Asian Crush (pan-Asian content, relaunched in April) — DMR has hit go on Yuyu, a general-entertainment service offering content in more than a dozen categories and genres, including “Binge Worthy” television, “Stranger Than Fiction” documentaries and “Tour de Force Performance.”

DMR hasn’t announced the other three SVOD services that are in the works, but its current offerings each cost $4.99 per month. Its latest, Yuyu, is launching with more than 350 titles, including Johnny Suede with Brad Pitt, 95 Miles to Go with Ray Romano, crime documentary Where Is Robert Fisher? and Misfits, a story about LGBT teens in the heart of the Bible Belt.

Yuyu was available at launch via Roku players and Roku TVs, mobile devices and Web browsers, with development underway for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Sony smart TVs and Google Chromecast.

As suggested in its tagline, “TV That Isn’t Basic,” Yuyu wants to offer content that fills the niche between traditional cable-network protgramming and the premium content available on YouTube.

“It’s a very exciting time for independent publishers,” DMR CEO Michael Hong said. “We kind of want to bridge the gap.”

Offering curated independent content puts Yuyu on a level playing field on platforms like Roku while also “competing quite nicely and, in some cases, beating some of the cable channels that are out there,” he added. “That’s what we love about this new kind of paradigm.”

Because Yuyu is digital, it can put forth a multitude of formats, including feature-length films, sitcoms, dramas and documentaries. “We’re not about [filling] programming gaps that are obscure or marginal,” he said. “We’re talking about huge, impactful genres that the traditional networks are totally missing the boat on.”

Hong called digital and TV content producer Vice Media an “inspiration” for Yuyu, because it has been successful at identifying key genres that have tremendous value for consumers. “We’re trying to tap into that.”

Though DMR distributes content on Amazon and Hulu, which are like video “department stores,” the plan is to create “unique boutique” OTT services, Hong said, noting the company will also augment its SVOD offerings with exclusive titles and early windows.

DMR has international rights for most of its content, Hong said. While the initial focus is on the U.S. and Canada, the company intends to later expand to other English-speaking territories.

Hong is also aware that the OTT SVOD market is getting crowded. Rather than just focusing on videos, he said DMR’s services will also look to capture the “culture” behind them.

“Over time, the goal is about engagement and building the community,” he said, noting forays into social media, for example. At last check, Asian Crush had 76,298 “likes” on Facebook, while Midnight Pulp has about 26,206.

“That’s really fulfilling the potential of digital,” Hong said of those community-building aspects. “We don’t want to just be a total lean-back experience that you find with cable.”

For now DMR, a private company established in 2010, will market its SVOD services on its own rather than strike deals with streaming aggregation services such as Amazon’s new Streaming Partners Program or VRV, a service launching later this year from Ellation.

DMR is already making good money by distributing content on Amazon Prime, Hong said.

“Those [SVOD aggregation] services, I think, work best for companies that have been around for a while. You can kind of get lost in the shuffle, if you’re a new company,” Hong said, allowing that “eventually it might make sense to be on those platforms.”