Genre Anime | Area served United States | |
Former type Online stream of anime programming Founded October 2, 2012; 4 years ago (2012-10-02) Defunct May 4, 2016 (2016-05-04) Headquarters San Francisco, California | ||
Neon Alley was an American digital anime service run by Viz Media. The service began as a 24-hour web channel dedicated to showing English dubbed anime series in uncut and uncensored formats. It later evolved into a Hulu-based streaming site, showcasing both dubbed and subtitled releases.
Neon Alley's programming was streamed through Hulu, which is available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Mac, and other platforms.
History
Neon Alley was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2012 on July 13, 2012, where it was announced for PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network in North America for a monthly subscription fee. The service launched on October 2, 2012. Along with various series such as Naruto and Death Note, the channel premiered newly dubbed series, as well as live-action and anime movies. The service was later made available for Xbox 360 via Xbox Live from February 12, 2013. At Anime Expo 2013, Viz announced that the service would be available on PC and Mac, along with a new feature where subscribers could catch-up on past episodes.
It was announced on February 11, 2014 that Neon Alley would discontinue its web channel format and transition to become a free on-demand service for those living in the United States. Series will be streamed through their website or through Internet connected devices on Hulu: a joint venture between NBCUniversal Television Group, Disney-ABC Television Group and Fox Broadcasting Company. The change took effect on April 1, 2014. Following the relaunch, as a direct result of migrating to Hulu, viewers living in Canada lost access to the website. After Viz.com was relaunched in Spring 2016, the Neon Alley name was dropped. By that point, its blog and social media accounts haven't been updated since 2015. On July 21, 2016, Tubi TV announced that they had commenced streaming of certain Viz titles in Canada.