Streamer Crunchyroll’s CEO Colin Decker to step down, Rahul Purini upped to president

Colin Decker, CEO of Sony-owned anime streamer Crunchyroll, is stepping down from the role after three years, with Funimation chief operating officer Rahul Purini set to lead the company as president.

Colin Decker

Decker’s departure comes eight months after Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)’s Funimation completed its US$1.175bn purchase of Crunchyroll from US telecoms giant AT&T. Decker will remain with the company for a few more weeks to ensure a smooth transition.

The acquisition, which was first revealed in December 2020, brought anime firms Crunchyroll and Funimation under the same umbrella, with the integration still ongoing.

Crunchyroll’s direct-to-consumer service has around five million SVoD subscribers and 120 million registered users across more than 200 countries and territories, offering AVoD, mobile games, manga, events merchandise and distribution.

Funimation, meanwhile, has a catalogue of more than 700 anime series (13,000 hours of content) available on 15 platforms across about 50 countries.

“Working alongside you has been an honour and a privilege. Because of your dedication, resilience and belief, we have realised what seemed impossible just a few years ago,” said Decker.

Rahul Purini

Purini added: “Having spent the last seven years involved in nearly every facet of the business, and seeing how far we’ve come, the opportunity ahead is bright and I look forward to what we will do together next.

“There are so many things that excite me about this new role, but the one part that stands out is our clear opportunity: to accelerate the growth, size and love of anime around the world by putting fans and community first and by helping everyone belong.”

In an internal note, Keith Le Goy, SPE’s chairman of worldwide distribution and networks, said: “Our anime business is stronger than ever and remains a vital part of our overall strategy at SPE and Sony Group. It’s a fantastic time for the business and for the growing global anime fan community.

“We are seeing substantial subscriber growth and are looking forward to some incredible new content coming to the service in the months ahead. The unification is well underway and going even better than planned, and we are really excited about the growth opportunities in manga, e-commerce and mobile gaming. Not to mention the recent box office success of Jujutsu Kaisen 0, which has grossed US$34m in the US and is the number four highest grossing anime film in US box office history.”