• by Alex Weprin , August 7, 2018

AT&T has acquired full control of Otter Media, the digital-media company it formed as a joint venture with The Chernin Group in 2014. 

Otter Media includes a number of digital content and video properties, including CrunchyRoll, VRV, Rooster Teeth and FullScreen. Otter Media also has stakes in production companies Gunpowder & Sky and Hello Sunshine. 

Otter Media has also invested in streaming direct-to-consumer offerings. The company says it has more than 2 million paying SVOD subscribers and 93 million unique monthly consumers.

When the deal closes, Otter Media will become a subsidiary of AT&T’s WarnerMedia unit, which is led by John Stankey. Tony Goncalves, who joined Otter Media earlier this year as CEO, will continue to run the company for AT&T.

AT&T has been on something of a spending spree since it closed its acquisition of Time Warner earlier this year.

Last month, the company announced its intention to buy the ad tech firm AppNexus in a deal said to be worth around $1.6 billion. The New York Times reports that Otter Media deal is estimated to be worth more than $1 billion.