Cinedigm unveiled Monday it’s rebranding to Cineverse – the name of its flagship streaming service – as the company shifts to a more streaming-focused strategy.
“We have come a very long way from the Cinedigm of 10 years ago, which specialized in digital innovation within the cinema industry,” stated Chris McGurk, chairman and CEO of Cineverse. “Today we officially turn the page to become Cineverse, a pure-play business in the exciting and dynamic streaming content and technology space.”
With this latest rebrand, Cineverse’s stock symbol will change from CIDM to CNVS beginning Tuesday, May 23. All financials will be reported under the new symbol going forward. Cineverse, established in 2000 under the name Access IT Digital Media, Inc., initially focused on digital distribution for movie theaters. It changed its name to Cinedigm Corp in 2013.
Since that first rebrand, Cineverse has expanded its business into the streaming video space. In the past few years, the company acquired streaming services such as independent film provider Fandor, Future Today and Screambox, among others. The Cineverse streaming service debuted on September 15 as an ad-supported platform, bringing the company’s free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels under one umbrella.
Users can access Cineverse’s ad-supported content simply by signing up for an account. Cineverse also currently offers an ad-free version of the service for $2.99 per month.
McGurk added that Cineverse intends to continue expanding its content library, which is “currently at over 60,000 titles and growing rapidly.”
“Having now fully moved beyond our legacy digital cinema business at the end of our last fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, we believe a new company name more accurately reflects our business and brand as it stands today – a leading brand at the intersection of entertainment and innovation,” he said.
Distribution-wise, the Cineverse app is available on iOS, Android, desktop as well as Roku and Samsung smart TVs.
The company is also expanding the reach of its FAST channels on other platforms. Earlier this month, Cineverse inked a deal with TelevisaUnivision to launch a Spanish-language version of The Bob Ross Channel on ViX. That same channel debuted last June on The Roku Channel.
And in April, Amazon Freevee added three Cinedigm channels – Docurama, RetroCrush and The Dove Channel – to its lineup. The FAST channels joined six other Cineverse channels already available on Freevee.
Cineverse isn’t the only media company that’s undertaken a rebranding. Virtual MVPD Fubo in March dropped the “TV” from its logo, and shortly afterwards Sinclair announced it will rename itself from Sinclair Broadcast Group to Sinclair, Inc.