>Opinions | An Anime Channel: Is It Possible?

Question #5: Will there be an all-anime channel in North America?
Answer: No, I mean yes.

There are no all-anime channels on the planet.

Let me repeat that in case you didn't hear me.

There are NO all-anime channels on the planet. Not in the U.K., not in Latin America, not in Canada, not even in Japan. There is a network in Japan owned by Sony called Animax, but they have some American programming on it, albeit in very small numbers, and Japan's Toonami lineup has all North American programming. Several of the broadcast networks where many of today's anime hits first air like TV Tokyo and Fuji-TV air Western cartoons as well as anime. Not even the Japanese-flavored Locomotion network in Latin America is all anime, because they air shows from the US, France, and the UK in addition to anime. The reason that an all-anime channel wouldn't work is because you got to have variety. People want to see the best of the best in anime, but chances are you'll get the good and the bad on a network. Afterall, you can't just schedule a network based on one genre of animation. Cartoon Network and Toon Disney are an example of how and how not to program a channel.

Cartoon Network's best trait is the diverse programming, from classic theatrical shorts and television series to new original cartoons to acquired anime and comedy shows. Meanwhile, Toon Disney's lineup is largely relegated to just Disney-made shows, both the good and the bad, and rarely airing the classic shorts and movies that helped create the Disney name and image. Diversity is key to a successful network, and if you have diversity, a network will succeed where lesser, non-diverse networks would falter. More households have Cartoon Network than Toon Disney. You have to give the people (not just the otaku) what they want, and the fact is that people nationwide don't want to see anime 24/7/365. The novelty runs thin, and people will eventually grow tired of it. With that said, I don't feel that there will be an all-anime network in North America in the near future. I'm not saying that it won't happen, but it'll be next to impossible under the current conditions of the industry.

Addendum: 11/6/02 (edited 3/10/04 and reedited 07/10)

Wow! Guess somebody listened to reason and actually had the cajones to prove me wrong, and it's not who I'd thought it would be.

ADV Films have stepped up to the plate and has made the announcement that is basically an otaku home-run. On November 6, 2002, ADV Films officially announced plans to create North America's first all-anime channel, The Anime Network, a digital-only service bringing you the finest in anime programming 24/7/365. All day, all night.

Almost. The one hitch about The Anime Network is that it's not a network in the traditional sense. By using on-demand cable technology, The Anime Network provides digital cable customers a chance to pick a particular anime series to watch when you want at any time. However, it's not a network in the way many people feel a network should be. We can't just turn on the TV and plop down and watch a menagerie of anime in one sitting. Right now, The Anime Network is still in the warm liquid goo phase, unfinished, and very virginal.

But over the years, The Anime Network has done a lot in the years since it launched. After a period of being in test markets, the network became a 24/7/365 network in some parts of the country and continues to use on-demand cable technology (either free or subscription-based) in others. Is it 100% anime? Not really since they do run the occasional J-pop series. I know that some inroads with competitors are being made with The Anime Network. FUNimation recently announced plans to launch their own network, and Viz is planning their own video services with Cartoon Network.

Sony Pictures Entertainment bought Locomotion and relaunched it as Animax Latin America, slowly creeping that popular brand acound the world, and with a newfound ally in Comcast, they may actually bring Animax to the US. Years have passed, and the closest thing we have to an American Animax is the online channel at Sony's Crackle website.

In fact, in the years since the article was originally written, Funimation launched an online and a linear broadcast network that is found in very few households. The Anime Network's 24-hour endeavor closed, and the channel only exists as subscription video-on-demand and online services. Viz's Jetstream endeavor with Cartoon Network launched in 2006 and ended in January 2009 after Cartoon Network ended Toonami months earlier, but Viz has their own online video. There's also Crunchyroll and Hulu, but none of the outlets I have presented are 100% anime.

So, as you can see, other anime distributors are gaining more confidence in creating new outlets to showcase their work.

Is the world ready though?