TransUnion and Crackle Plus Announce Agreement, Allowing for Improved Ad Targeting of Crackle Audience

The addition of TransUnion data will allow Crackle Plus advertisers to access robust audience insights across demographics, finance, and special interests

NEW YORK, N.Y., April 29, 2021 - Crackle Plus, a Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (Nasdaq: CSSE) company and one of the largest operators of streaming advertising-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) networks, announced today an agreement with TransUnion (NYSE: TRU), a global information and insights company.

With this agreement, Crackle Plus will utilize TransUnion's identity and audience solutions to allow the AVOD industry leader to better serve more relevant advertising to their audiences and thus provide a higher value to agency and brand partners.

"There is little doubt that streaming consumption will continue to see growth, even after a banner year in 2020, as consumers continue to demonstrate a preference for streaming services," said Matt Spiegel, EVP marketing solutions and media vertical, TransUnion. "We're excited to work with a leader like Crackle Plus as they demonstrate their commitment to better understanding their consumers' preferences in order to deliver more relevant content and advertising experiences that as a result, drive desired outcomes for their marketing partners. TransUnion is dedicated to providing an accurate and comprehensive view of consumers to support Crackle Plus' mission of reaching viewers in an omni-channel, privacy-safe way."

TransUnion's identity graph covers 98% of U.S. adults and delivers a clearer and more comprehensive view of individual users utilizing validated, offline identity components. As a result, Crackle Plus will be able to resolve individuals to a person or household providing a more accurate ad curation and delivery, while also protecting consumer data.

With the agreement, Crackle Plus will have access to TransUnion's audience insights, automation tools for onboarding advertiser first-party data, modeling and custom audience building. This gives Crackle Plus a better understanding of their audiences to drive advertising personalization resulting in higher value to brands advertising on Crackle and a more efficient experience for consumers who will be required to sit through fewer irrelevant ads.

Crackle Plus offers advertisers access to an audience difficult to reach through conventional advertising methods due to their migration away from traditional cable systems. Through TransUnion's acquisition of Tru Optik, the Crackle Plus team and their advertising partners also have access to tens of thousands of third-party audience segments from dozens of industry-leading data providers. Reaching highly desired viewers across a multitude of devices will empower Crackle Plus teams to deliver commercial content at scale with the utmost respect for security, privacy and data-compliance.

"The Crackle Plus team is thrilled to be working with TransUnion," said George Castrissiades, Executive Director of Advanced Product and Partnerships. "This relationship means that our advertising partners can be even more secure in the knowledge that every dollar they spend on our platform is being optimized to deliver the maximum value in terms of effective brand exposure."

Crackle linear and VOD networks are available in the U.S. and can be accessed on 29 devices and services including Amazon FireTV, RokuTV, Apple TV, Smart TVs (Samsung, LG, Vizio), gaming consoles (PS4 and XBoxOne), Plex, iOS and Android mobile devices and on desktops at Crackle.com. Crackle is also available in approximately 500,000 hotel rooms in the Marriott Bonvoy chain.

CRACKLE PLUS, A CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY

Crackle Plus owns and operates ad-supported VOD networks Crackle and Popcornflix and garners 50 million streams of its movies and TV shows per month, making it one of the largest AVOD streaming platforms in the U.S. Crackle Plus has over 80,000 hours of content available across all its networks, and premieres at least one original and one exclusive program each month, differentiating it from other AVODs. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSSE) owns a majority stake in the company formed with Sony Pictures Television. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment also acquires and distributes video content through its Screen Media subsidiary and produces original long and short-form content through Landmark Studio Group, its Chicken Soup for the Soul Originals division and APlus.com. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is a subsidiary of Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC, which publishes the famous book series and produces super-premium pet food under the Chicken Soup for the Soul brand name.

About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)

TransUnion is a global information and insights company that makes trust possible in the modern economy. We do this by providing a comprehensive picture of each person so they can be reliably and safely represented in the marketplace. As a result, businesses and consumers can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good.(R) A leading presence in more than 30 countries across five continents, TransUnion provides solutions that help create economic opportunity, great experiences, and personal empowerment for hundreds of millions of people. http://www.transunion.com/business