Short answers, pulled from the story.
Hidive launched in June 2017, replacing a smaller predecessor called Anime Network Online. Hidive, LLC acquired Anime Network Online's assets and transferred its existing subscriptions over to the new service.
Hidive is owned by AMC Global Media, which acquired the service along with its parent company, Sentai Filmworks, in early January 2022. At the time of that acquisition, AMC Global Media was still operating under the name AMC Networks.
Anime Network Online was a video on demand service launched by A.D. Vision around 2007 through Anime Network. It kept operating after A.D. Vision's assets were liquidated in 2009, later licensing titles from Sentai Filmworks, before Hidive replaced it in 2017.
Hidive ran its own channel on VRV from the 18th of October 2018 until the 30th of September 2021. It left VRV after Sony acquired the service's parent company, Crunchyroll, from AT&T on the 9th of August 2021.
ANIME x HIDIVE is a free ad-supported streaming channel that AMC announced in April 2022, built from titles licensed by Sentai. It launched on Plex on the 10th of March 2023.
Yes, Hidive has streamed some titles outside Sentai's own catalog. Examples include The Promised Neverland, which it began streaming in January 2019, and Pon no Michi, added in January 2026.