News
Rahul Purini: 'Dubs Constitute 65% of Crunchyroll's Viewership in India'
posted on by Adriana Hazra
CEO of Crunchyroll Rahul Purini stated to technology news outlet Rest of World earlier this month that over 65% of Crunchyroll's total viewership in India consists of dubbed titles. The company has created Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil dubs for more than 80 titles and also hosts English dubs as well as dubs in several other languages in India.
Regarding its future plans, Purini stated Crunchyroll plans to work with Japanese creators to produce anime based on Indian characters, themes, and stories.
Purini also stated Crunchyroll will release its new IP (intellectual property) merch in India "very soon." The company announced on October 9 that it has entered a partnership with brand licensing agency Black White Orange to oversee and manage licensing merchandise programs in India. Black White Orange will work with over 35 anime titles including Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Robotech, Trigun, and My Dress-Up Darling.
Rest of World's article notes that according to data from market insights firm Sensor Tower, Crunchyroll's mobile app had 46,000 monthly active users in India between January 1 and July 17, an uptick of 17,000 compared to its 29,000 average in all of 2021. A June 2024 report by Polaris Market Research states that India's anime market is expected to surpass US$5 billion by 2032.
Purini told Rest of World there was some "streaming subscription fatigue" existing amongst potential customers. But he went on to say, "localized subtitling and dubbing is something that we believe is critical in facilitating an emotional connection to anime. We're proud of the production and voice actors we work with to bring this craft to screens big and small."
Crunchyroll recently launched as an Amazon Prime Video add-on channel in India on June 26. Sony Pictures Network India appointed Gaurav Banerjee as the managing director and CEO on June 23 after former CEO NP Singh stepped down from his role on May 24.
The company began streaming several of its anime titles in India on March 1, 2022. Funimation and Crunchyroll announced on the same day that Funimation and Wakanim's anime library and simulcast content had moved to Crunchyroll. The company appointed Rahul Purini as CEO in April 2022 after several years as COO of Funimation.
Crunchyroll announced its first slate of Hindi and Indian English dubs in November 2022 as it introduced subscription tiers for Indian audiences.
Sony's Funimation Global Group completed its acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T in August 2021. The purchase price was US$1.175 billion, and the proceeds were paid in cash at closing.
Crunchyroll and Funimation first announced the acquisition in December 2020 with a purchase price of US$1.175 billion.
Source: Rest of World (Ananya Bhattacharya) via Animenomics
