Joost to Develop Anime Channel Available Through Online Video Community
MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Navarre Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVR) announced today that it's wholly-owned subsidiary, FUNimation Entertainment, has entered into an agreement with Joost(TM) (http://www.joost.com/) to bring its catalog of anime video content to the online video service. Under the terms of the deal, FUNimation Entertainment will launch a video channel on Joost with a sampling of shows from its wide-ranging library of anime. New FUNimation programming will be added monthly.
In addition to viewing FUNimation's popular anime content, fans will also have the opportunity to interact with each other and to form communities centered on FUNimation's content. Using the social features of Joost, they can share favorite episodes, form groups around their favorite shows or character, or express their thoughts about a particular show or moment.
"Joost recognizes that a varied entertainment landscape exists and that there is a thirst for unique content," said Gen Fukunaga, president and CEO at FUNimation Entertainment. "We understand that entertainment fans across the board want web-based on-demand programming. In the anime industry, FUNimation is leading that charge with its online syndication strategy based on strong relationships with partners such as Joost." Danny Passman, global head of programming for Joost, said, "Joost knows what anime fans want -- they want to be able to watch their favorite shows online in their entirety, and they want an easy way to talk about their favorite moments, shows or characters with other fans. Adding the full-length, dubbed and subtitled fan-favorite shows from FUNimation to Joost gets us even closer to our goal of being the online destination for premium legal anime." About FUNimation Entertainment FUNimation(R) Entertainment is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation and the leading company providing Japanese animation in the United States. FUNimation is known for acquiring top-rated anime series from Japan and for being the market share leader for home video sales of anime in the United States. The company has a proven formula for launching and advancing brands, and manages a full spectrum of rights for many of its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, internet, and home video sales and distribution.
About Navarre Corporation Navarre(R) Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVR) is a publisher and distributor of physical and digital home entertainment and multimedia products, including PC software, DVD video, video games and accessories. Navarre licenses and publishes home entertainment and multimedia content through its Encore, BCI, and FUNimation subsidiaries and has established distribution relationships with customers across a wide spectrum of retail channels. Navarre was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in New Hope, Minnesota. Additional information regarding Navarre can be found at http://www.navarre.com/.
About Joost Founded by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, Joost brings video and social interaction together online. All of the video on Joost is professionally produced and streams on-demand to people around the world for free in a high-quality format. Today, Joost has more than 40,000 program elements, including more than 400 television series and 1,200 movie and short film titles. For more information, visit http://www.joost.com/. DATASOURCE: Navarre Corporation CONTACT: Navarre Investor Relations, +1-763-535-8333, Web site: http://www.navarre.com/ http://www.joost.com/
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