mike hopkins Sony
In a letter addressed to their employees, Mike Hopkins, former Chief of Hulu and Chairman at Sony Pictures Television, described the potential move to bring a partner to Sony Crackle.
“I want to let them know that we have started the process of exploring potential partnerships for Sony Crackle to boost the scope and position of the broadcasting network to be more competitive.”
Likewise, the executive commented that Crackle is a tremendously valuable asset for the company and that they feel there is room for greater growth for their OTT business. According to him, “with the right partner, one that could attract additional content or users or tap into existing assets for advertising and promotion, we think we can expand the Crackle audience and significantly increase income.”
He also assured that meanwhile, a small group is working on the possible partnership so that the rest of the teams “can operate in the usual manner, focusing on their daily work and their commitments to help ensure that Crackle continues to be AVOD´s main platform.”
According to Variety, the type of partners Sony seeks to team within Crackle may include another VOD provider with advertising that can broaden the variety and reach of the platform´s content and grow its user base.
Other potential partners could include some other media and entertainment company that has a big content library and television channels or a telecommunications business with direct reach to consumers at a big scale.
