For the Bauhaus

Bauhaus (band)

Bauhaus was an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978. The group consisted of Peter Murphy , Daniel Ash , Kevin Haskins and David J . The band was originally Bauhaus 1919 before they dropped the numerical portion within a year of formation...

 album, see Crackle - The Best of Bauhaus

Crackle - The Best of Bauhaus

Crackle – The Best of Bauhaus, sometimes referred to simply as Crackle, is a greatest hits compilation by the gothic rock band Bauhaus. The album was released in 1998, during the band's Resurrection Tour...

. For the fifth derivative of the position vector with respect to time, see Crackle (physics).

Crackle (formerly known as Grouper) is a digital network

Television network

A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...

 and studio, featuring commercially supported streaming video content in Flash Video format. It is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment

Sony Pictures Entertainment

Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...

, and its content consists primarily of Sony's library of films and television shows. Crackle provides its content through a web syndication network, including YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

, Hulu

Hulu

Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...

, AOL

AOL

AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...

, MySpace

MySpace

Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

, and mobile service providers.

History

In July 2007, Sony purchased the online video site Grouper for $65 million.. | work = VentureBeat | accessdate = 2011-10-24}} In the same month, Sony announced that Grouper would be re-branded and re-purposed as Crackle, a multi-platform video-entertainment network and studio, featuring full-length movies and television shows from Sony’s library, as well as producing original content made just for the Internet. In October 2008, Sony moved Crackle to its Culver City base.

In April 2009, Crackle blocked access to anyone not in the United States of America. On June 8, 2010, Crackle announced it had opened up access to selected content on the site to viewers in the UK, Canada and Australia. In July 2011, the Crackle app was launched for the Android platform On October 5th 2011, Microsoft partnered with Crackle, to bring the channel to Xbox 360 Live.

Crackle currently features original content and licenses movie and T.V. shows from Columbia Pictures, Tri-Star, Screen Gems, and Sony Pictures Classics.

On October 17, 2011, Crackle announced a Halloween event called Kill Count, which will keep count of the amount of kills the user watches in their expanded horror movie section.

As of October 2011, the Crackle app has totaled 5 million downloads worldwide.

Original programming

In addition to content from Sony Pictures, Crackle features original content, including Trenches

Trenches (Web Series)

Trenches is an American science fiction web series directed and produced by Shane Felux, creator of Star Wars: Revelations. The show will premiere on Sony Pictures Entertainment owned Crackle on February 16, 2010. The show was written by Dawn Cowings and Sarah Yaworsky, and Aaron Mathias, Mercy...

and The Bannen Way

The Bannen Way

The Bannen Way is an American crime drama web series starring Mark Gantt as Neal Bannen, a third generation criminal who wants to get out of the con man lifestyle he's been living. The show officially premiered on Sony Pictures Entertainment owned Crackle on January 6, 2010, but the first three...

, which amassed 8.4 million views in February 2010,
and more than 13 million views as of March 2010. At the series conclusion it had set records for views for a web series.

In 2011, Crackle began to focus on long form programming. According to Eric Berger, “Short-form episodes had their role on sites like YouTube and other places as the market was developing," he said. "But we think we can create something longer with real talent behind it that can sit side by side with our great library." Such projects include, Monster Heist, Strand Street, and an untitled anthology series that tells paranormal stories.

Live streaming

Crackle also has distributed live streaming events, including the This Is It

Michael Jackson's This Is It

Michael Jackson's This Is It is a 2009 American documentary–concert film directed by Kenny Ortega that documents Michael Jackson's rehearsals and preparation for the concert series of the same name scheduled to start on July 13, 2009, but canceled due to his death eighteen days prior on June 25. It...

movie preview and a live streaming concert event for Wyclef Jean

Wyclef Jean

Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...

.