Cineverse Corp. (originally Access IT Digital Media, Inc., and later, Cinedigm) is an American entertainment company headquartered in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Cineverse’s businesses encompass

digital cinema Digital cinema is the digital technology used within the film industry to distribute or project motion pictures as opposed to the historical use of reels of motion picture film, such as 35 mm film. Whereas film reels have to be shipped to mo ...

, streaming channels, content marketing, and distribution.

History

Early years

The company was founded in 2000, under the name Access IT Digital Media, Inc., through a group led by Bud Mayo. Mayo served as director until his retirement in 2010, and subsequently founded Digital Cinema Destinations Corp. In September 2013, the company changed its name to Cinedigm Corp. In January 2011, Chris McGurk became the new chairman and CEO. In July 2011, the company sold its physical and electronic distribution business to

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

. The following month, Screenvision acquired UniqueScreen Media, Inc. (USM), the cinema advertising division of Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. The companies entered into a long-term agreement, with Cinedigm providing distribution and promotion for Screenvision. In April 2012, the company acquired distributor New Video. In October 2013, the company acquired Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment. In May 2014, Cinedigm established Docurama, an OTT documentary channel, focused on documentaries and film festival coverage. Later that year, Jeffrey Edell would join as CFO, and the company began trading on the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

under the ticker symbol.

Expansion into Video on Demand

In February 2015, Cinedigm and

Wizard World Wizard Entertainment Inc., formerly known as Wizard World, was a producer of multi-genre fan conventions across North America. The company that became Wizard Entertainment began in 1991 as Wizard Press, the publisher of the monthly magazine ''Wi ...

launched CONtv. In June of that year, Cinedigm would acquire a minority stake in Shout! Factory. Finally, in September, Cinedigm partnered with The Dove Foundation to create The Dove Channel, an online streaming service focusing on faith-based programming. In December 2017, control of Cinedigm was given to Bison Capital of Hong Kong to start one of the first China-U.S Studios. On February 5, 2019, Cinedigm acquired streaming service Viewster and its Viewster

Anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

subsidiary. Viewster would eventually merge with CONtv and rebrand as CONtv Anime on June 13, 2020. In April of that year, Cinedigm licensed content from Chinese firms CCTV, China Lion, Starrise Media and Youku, in order to launch an entertainment and film service called Bambu; the service would launch on October 22, 2019. In 2020, Cinedigm acquired The Film Detective. In February 2021, Cinedigm acquired the horror-genre streaming service, Screambox. Later that year, on September 21, 2021, Cinedigm acquired

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American independent multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news website specializing in information services that covered various horror media. The company expanded into other media including podcast ...

. As part of the acquisition, Screambox would be relaunched under the curation and management of Bloody Disgusting. In August 2021, Cinedigm announced a partnership with

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez ( ; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ...

to relaunch the former cable and satellite-based El Rey Network as a streaming channel. In December 2021, Cinedigm signed a deal with SideStream, a live video streaming service. In March 2022, Cinedigm acquired streaming, advertising and distribution company, Digital Media Rights; including the ad-supported streaming services Cinehouse (originally known as YuYu), AsianCrush, RetroCrush, Midnight Pulp, Cocoro (now discontinued), and KMTV.

Cineverse launch and rebranding

On September 15, 2022, Cinedigm launched Cineverse, marketed as the company's flagship streaming service, featuring programming from across its AVOD (ad-supported video on demand) and FAST (free, ad-supported, television) brands. In May 2023, the company rebranded to Cineverse Corp. and began trading on

under CNVS. The company stated that it was an "important step forward" in its "evolution into a streaming content and technology company". In June 2023, Cineverse announced that it would signed a content deal with Sid and Marty Krofft Pictures, allowing it to acquire the worldwide digital distribution rights to its library of shows, with the exceptions of '' The Brady Bunch Hour'' (owned by Paramount Television, now part of

CBS Media Ventures CBS Media Ventures, Inc. (formerly CBS Paramount Domestic Television and CBS Television Distribution) is the television broadcast syndication arm of CBS Studios, a division of the CBS Entertainment Group, in turn a division of Paramount Global, ...

), '' D.C. Follies'' (owned by

Amazon MGM Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

) and '' Mutt & Stuff'' (owned by

Paramount Media Networks Paramount Media Networks is the division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of its television channels and online brands. The division was originally founded as MTV Networks in 1984, named after MTV. It would be known under this ...

under the Nick Jr. brand) and they would launch a VOD channel, called the Sid and Marty Krofft Channel on February 5, 2024.

Television and streaming

Cineverse owns or programs the following brands for either its namesake streaming service, or standalone services and apps, as of 2023.Cineverse - Your Ticket to a World of Entertainment Delights _ On-Demand Content & Free Linear Channels
/ref> *AsianCrush *The Bob Ross Channel *Comedy Dynamics (The Nacelle Company) * CONtv (now Midnight Pulp) * Docurama * Dog Whisperer Channel * The Dove Channel * El Rey Network *The

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

Channel *EntrepreneurTV * Fandor *First Responders Network * Gusto TV *Insight TV *Maverick Black Cinema *MeatEater TV *Midnight Pulp *Nacelle Pop *QTTV * Real Madrid TV *RetroCrush *Row8 * Screambox *

Sid and Marty Krofft Sid Krofft (born July 30, 1929) and Marty Krofft (April 9, 1937 – November 25, 2023), known as The Krofft Brothers and born as Cydus and Moshopopoulos Yolas, were a Canadian sibling team of television creators, writers and puppeteers. Through ...

Channel *So...Real *So…Dramatic * Terrifier 3

References

External links

* {{CATV USA 2000 establishments in California American companies established in 2000 Entertainment companies established in 2000 Mass media companies established in 2000 Digital media organizations Entertainment companies based in California Companies listed on the Nasdaq Companies based in Los Angeles Film distributors of the United States Home video companies of the United States Mass media companies of the United States Internet television streaming services