The service was launched in June 2017 after the dissolution of The Anime Network's online service, which survived after the liquidation of the former A.D. Vision's assets in 2009.
History
Early years
Hidive, LLC, a new company not affiliated with Anime Network, was formed in 2017 and shortly after, it acquired Anime Network Online's assets and spun them off into the new streaming service following Anime Network Online's discontinuation.[3][2] Former subscriptions from Anime Network Online were later moved to Hidive.[4]
It exclusively streams select licensed titles from Sentai and Section23, as well as a handful that was formerly held by A.D. Vision, including a small number of titles that were previously exclusive to the defunct streaming channel Anime Strike.[5][6]
On July 21, 2017, Hidive announced the service would start to offer selected anime titles with Spanish and Portuguese subtitles and began offering "Dubcasts" later in March 2018.[7][8] Similar to SimulDubs, it competes against FUNimation's SimulDub program.[9] This allows Hidive to stream dubs of simulcast titles approximately two to three weeks after the initial Japanese broadcast.
On October 18, 2018, VRV announced that Hidive would be launching its channel on its service, which replaced FUNimation Now, which left the service on November 9, 2018.[10]
Sony announced its acquisition of VRV's parent company Crunchyroll from AT&T on August 9, 2021, via its FUNimation subsidiary. After the acquisition took effect, Hidive left the service on September 30 of that year.[11]
AMC acquisition
Hidive was part of AMC Networks' acquisition of Sentai in January 2022.[12]
In November 2023, the service announced that it will end service in certain areas outside North America, which went into effect later in December.[13]
In March 2024, Hidive's website was updated with a new user interface.[14] New features were also added, such as offline viewing, updated history queues, and the ability to create multiple customized watchlists.[15][16] It later brought back the schedule and customized profiles features in August,[17] both of which were features that were previously available prior to the major update of the site.
At launch, Hidive featured much of the same content as Anime Network Online, which in-itself featured notable titles licensed by A.D. Vision and its successor, Sentai Filmworks.
In April 2022, AMC announced the development of a Hidive-branded Free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel called "ANIME x HIDIVE", which would feature content licensed by Sentai and seen on the Hidive streaming service.[18] The channel would launch on Plex in March 2023.[19]
In September 2022, Hidive would briefly expand into original programing when it co-premiered the AMC+ original series Pantheon.[20][21]
