On 0, "Robert G. Seeberger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> scribbled: > http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-05-05/sci-fi-channel-launches-anime-block > > http://tinyurl.com/2wu6pt > > > Broadcasting & Cable reports that on June 11, the Sci Fi Channel will > premiere Ani-Monday, a weekly two-hour block of anime programming. > Episodes, films, and other content for the block will be provided by > Manga Entertainment, a unit of Starz Media. Starz is the production > company behind Sci Fi's original series Painkiller Jane. According to > Sci Fi executive vice-president Dave Howe, this block is a part of an > overall initiative to redefine Sci Fi as a "lifestyle brand," not just > a cable TV channel. > > The new block, which will air from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., is > intended to directly compete with Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. > Broadcasting & Cable reports that through the first months of this > year, Adult Swim has averaged 281,000 male viewers aged 18-34 during > that timeslot. For the same age bracket and timeslot, Sci Fi Channel's > average was 44,000 viewers. > > > > http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6439376.html > > > > > > In an attempt to lure younger viewers and expand the reach of its > brand, Sci Fi Channel is launching Ani-Monday, a two-hour late-night > block of anime programming. Set to premiere June 11, the slate will > put the network in direct competition with Cartoon Network's > late-night ratings powerhouse Adult Swim, which programs anime as > well. > > Running from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., the block will include acquired > series, movies and shorts. > > The content comes from Manga, one of three major U.S. anime > distributors and a unit of Starz Media, which produces Sci Fi's > live-action original Painkiller Jane, among other network shows. > > Sci Fi, which signed a one-year deal with Starz, is aiming to better > reach an 18- to 34-year-old male audience and convert those new > viewers into fans of Sci Fi's other content. > > If successful, the move would lower the network's median age > (currently about 45) and hopefully attract more advertising from young > male-targeting categories, like movies and electronics. Sci Fi would > then likely work the formula across other nights. > > The network recently got approval from parent company NBC Universal to > start a business division, which is producing Sci Fi-branded comic > books in partnership with Virgin Comics. Sci Fi is also considering > feature films, videogames and mobile products. > > "This is part of a whole initiative to target a youth audience and > figure out how we start to transform the Sci Fi brand away from just > being a TV cable brand and more into a lifestyle brand that can move > into other levels," says Executive VP/GM Dave Howe. > > Sci Fi has been eyeing late night for years and enters the market at a > time when the daypart has never been more competitive. Late-night ad > revenue reached nearly $1 billion for broadcast alone last year, and > cable networks are increasingly programming in that time period as > well. > > Sci Fi will most directly battle Adult Swim, which targets the same > young-male audience and programs six nights a week for a total of 45 > hours. (Cartoon Network recently announced a move to expand the block > to include Fridays.) > > For 2007 to date, Adult Swim has averaged 281,000 viewers among men > 18-34 from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. for the six days it programs. For the > same period, Sci Fi averaged 44,000 males age 18-34 from 11 p.m. to 1 > a.m. on those days. Currently, Sci Fi runs acquired movies during > those hours. By comparison, the network averaged 121,000 males 18-34 > during prime hours 8-11 p.m. > > Viacom's Comedy Central lures just as many 18-34 males as Cartoon with > its Daily Show/Colbert Report late-night salvo. > > And Turner's comedy-focused TBS has also added originals to its > late-night hours over the past year, including half-hour comedies and > last summer's experimental, live interactive game show Midnight Money > Madness. > > > > **************************************************************************** > > Is it just me, or is Sci-Fi as a "lifestyle brand" hilarious? > > The blocks premier offering will be Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone > Complex - Solid State Society. This is a movie, not a half hour > series. > > > > xponent > > Up Too Early Maru > > rob
Ack! They're licensing from Manga Entertainment? Call me crazy, but my past impression of their localization has been that it was less than stellar (the Evangelion movies being a particularly egregrious cause in point). Oh well. Here's to them showing ''Legend of the Overfiend'' or ''Perfect Blue''! -- Gwern Inquiring minds want to know. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
