In this episode of the Anime 3000 Panel, we are looking at anime’s presence on North American television. Our panel includes Jackie Smith, who is the senior publicist for FUNimation Entertainment. Courtney Kraft is currently an associate producer at G4, but at one time put together G4/Tech TV’s Anime Unleashed late night block. Rounding up the panel we have Gia Manry who is the editor in chief at Anime Vice.
A3K PANEL
Episode Title: “Anime on TV”
Episode Count: 28
Run Time: 01:05:05
Host(s): Sean Russell
Guest(s): Courtney Kraft , Jackie Smith, Gia Manry
Download: Click Here
Song Credit: Breakfast in America by Super Tramp
Jackie Smith is the senior publicist for FUNimation Entertainment. Her responsibilities include working with the public as well as the press. She is also the person behind the FUNimation Twitter account.
http://www.twitter.com/funimation
Courtney Kraft is an associate producer and host of G4’s online nightly interactive talk show program. She was also responsible for editing all the anime on G4/Tech TV’s Anime Unleashed block. She’s currently the resident anime expert for G4 TV and can be found weeknights at 8PM EST at stickam.com/g4interactive.
http://stickam.com/g4interactive
http://www.twitter.com/theanimegoddess
Gia Manry is the editor in chief at Anime Vice. She was the former news editor at Anime Online and freelancer at Anime Insider.
http://www.twitter.com/animevice
Show Information
1) What’s the overall process of getting an anime on TV? Does FUNi usually acquire TV broadcast rights when they license shows, or is it something reserved only for series likely to actually be aired? Do anime companies usually approach the TV networks, or is it ever the other way around?
2) (This might be unanswerable, but I’ve always wanted to ask about it) I’ve heard several times that anime companies actually pay Adult Swim to air their titles. Is this true, or occasionally true?
3) It’s clear that airing on TV impacts merchandise sales pretty heavily, but how much does it impact DVD sales once someone’s seen the show for (relatively) free on TV?
4) There seems to be a lot less anime on TV now than there used to be, particularly in the time slots aimed at the young teen audience a la the old Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon runs on UPN. Why do you think this is? Is the overall mainstream popularity of anime declining?
5) FUNimation runs a 24/7 anime channel in certain locations, but it’s always seemed difficult to spread it further. Can you talk about some of the reasons why the FUNimation Channel isn’t being carried as widely as other niche-aimed networks (say, G4 or Logo)? What do you think would need to happen to get an anime channel accessible throughout the US?
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Twitter Questions
Tim Maughan (Timmaughanbooks.com)
With hardly any of the new season being streamed, is simulcasting (or even weekcasting) dead already?
Edythemighty (edythemighty.com)
With the furor (yes, I have a classy vocabulary) over Vampire Bund censoring, what will Funi do to prevent outlash in the future?
When will Anime Unleashed feature edgier anime, like they (or TechTV) did with Soul Eater?
Alain (thereversetheives.com)
Heroman was obviously made to be on US TV at some point. If you could make a anime for TV what sort of show would it be?
Andre Tipton (http://otakunewsnetwork.blogspot.com)
What is the top 3 (or maybe just top) shows that NEED to be on TV and where?
Do you guys think the CN is responsible for the watered down nature of todays anime releases?
Promo
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