Sony Pictures is shuttering Sony Crackle in Canada: The ad-supported video service will be closing its doors in Canada on June 28. Crackle Canada has been telling consumers about the closure with a message posted on its website, and a Sony Crackle spokesperson confirmed the exit when contacted by Variety.
“As part of a recently announced partnership between Sony Pictures Television and Bell Media, some content that was available on Sony Crackle in Canada will be available on Bell Media’s new VOD services, CTV Movies and CTV Vault, later this year,” the spokesperson said via email. “Sony Crackle will continue to focus on its longform original content in the U.S. and Latin America. We want to thank the loyal viewers in Canada that have enjoyed our service throughout the years.”
The service, which recently rebranded from Crackle to Sony Crackle, has been serving ad-supported movie and TV shows in Canada since 2010. Crackle has also been operating in Latin America since 2012. Its Latin-American offspring was initially ad-supported as well, but switched to a subscription video model in late 2016.
Earlier this month, Sony Pictures Television laid off some staff in an effort to consolidate its various businesses. As part of that move, Sony Pictures also created a new digital unit under Sony TV exec Eric Berger, who is now leading Crackle and other direct-to-consumer businesses including Funimation, Film1 OTT and Animax on demand.
