Adult Swim on UK Toonami

If this contains similar shows as the American Adult Swim, it is MASSIVE news for UK anime fans :) Adult Swim in the US often broadcasts the likes of Cowboy Bebop and Trigun (to name but a few).

Although I have a feeling this is more of a trick, and they'll end up shoving their old shows like The Big O, Samurai Jack and Outlaw Star in there- I've got my fingers crossed this is the real thing.

...Exciting times...
 
I remain hopeful that they will show FMA, but its just blind optimism until we understand how far they are willing to go with their AS content. I wouldn't be suprised if it were just 2 comedy shows from America along with One Piece :roll:

Anyone know how long AS is in America? Is it the same 100 minutes?
 
In America Adult Swim is from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Saturdays and Thursday nights.

Its incredible how good some of the anime shows are that they show.

BIG O
BLUE GENDER
COWBOY BEBOP
FLCL
GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX
INUYASHA
TRIGUN
WITCH HUNTER ROBIN
WOLF'S RAIN

I doubt we'll get anything new or exposive for a while though but Im crossing my fingers it dosnt go the way of CNX.
 
There has been some rumours circulating lately about Adult Swim UK. While I wouldn't take the following quote too seriously, there is no official source, its all fun in the name of hope and expectation ;)

From ToonZone
(http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.p ... ge=3&pp=20)

Acutally this airing of adult swim is just a test

if it goes well there introducing a 24/7 adult swim in 2005

i found out that sailor moon or wolf rain is meant to be on i am still trying to get it confirm excately what will air as my first post about wing it might be removing now there got a choice of 6-8 animes apparntly and they just need to choose which ones to get best ratings

i guess we will all need to wait to november

Judging by reaction in the US, Wolf's Rain has been pretty successful. And since Toonami UK is essentially here to air action animation, this naturally leads you to believe that an anime-based Adult Swim wouldn't be too far off the mark afterall.

I assume that with massive companies like Bandai (Wolf's Rain, Gundam SEED) and Square Enix (Full Metal Alchemist) attempting to launch their respective anime franchises in the UK, there is now more pressure being put on Turner Europe to start getting them some respectable TV exposure.

While it still wouldn't suprise me if Toonami ended up just showing a load of the US comedy stuff, I'm feeling slightly more optimistic every day that this will end with a favourable result :)
 
Oh well, I guess thats out of the window then :( Can't really blame Toonami for not wanting to take a chance on anime, but still, this is really disappointing.
 
Paul said:
Oh well, I guess thats out of the window then :( Can't really blame Toonami for not wanting to take a chance on anime, but still, this is really disappointing.

Yeah, but it's not surprising. It seems to be an "accepted fact" that there's no market for anime on UK TV. CNX failed (we'll ignore the fact that it actually showed very little anime anyway). The Sci-Fi channel seems to have given up. Oh yeah, that's right, they do still show anime - at 5am. Ok, I was up at 5am this morning, but that's because I needed to be in the office before 6am. Who else shows anime ? There's the odd kid's show on some channels but other than that....
We can always hope that VOD (video on demand) takes off. There may be a niche in that market. But I'm still not holding my breath. I guess I'll keep on importing the DVDs.
Jay
 
jay said:
We can always hope that VOD (video on demand) takes off. There may be a niche in that market. But I'm still not holding my breath. I guess I'll keep on importing the DVDs.

I think anime can work on TV provided it is intelligently placed and marketed. For example, Hellsing could easily rake in some decent numbers on late night Channel 4 (I'm talking midnight-2am here). Outside of the fact that it is a story based in England, it's very stylish and violent-- exactly the type of late night fodder that will pull in the student/late night viewers.

The success of Adult Swim in the US gives other American channels the cofidence to invest in anime. They now have at least 3-4 different channels that show anime (Gungrave is on in the US now! Bastards!) The UK needs a similiar precursor. CNX appeared too early during the 'rebirth' of UK fandom and suffered from putting too much pressure on the likes of Cowboy Bebop.

There is reason that most anime is broadcast on Japanese TV during the early hours (1am to 3am). The UK needs to follow such examples instead of relying on anime to be a mainstream hit. Sci-Fi had the right idea when showing anime like Blue Gender and Evangelion at around midnight every Thursday, but then they went and put all their eggs in one basket with 'Saiko Exciting'. It's a shame they seem to be backing out now, just as things start to get interesting (what with the DVD market in the UK continuing to expand and all).
 
As im currently studing Media i know for a fact that Channel 4 won't take an risky choices in programming right now, due to Ofcom wanting them to be a more PSB channel (Public Service Broadcaster), however there is a debate that Ofcom will allow Channel 4 to set up a new channel in order to cover their remit. Since they can't be alternative (Their statement is "Do It First, Get In Trouble, Inspire Change") with all the PSB requirements they have right now. They simply can't afford to be different.

Given that CNX failed, it just took longer than Sci-Fi's Saiko Exciting Tv companies are reluctant to find things that'll fit the space. CNX was in theory a great idea, but there was no 'real' market for the matrial arts programs they seemed to be focusing on. They didn't really stick to their statement other than their martial arts. Given that the only anime films they showed weren't films but OVA's. I only recall them showing Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz and Blue Sub 6. I believe Cowboy Bebop didn't run aslong as Outlaw Star simply because there where differences in their TV licences. I think that Bebop could only be re-run 3 times, while Outlaw Star had a longer running period, which lead upto the channel moving out of the channel numers deemed 'alternative' and into the 'kids section'. The name then changed to Toonami, and we saw the decline of more and more japanese animations.

If i remember correctly Saiko Exciting went down in a ball of flames, once the show lost the majority of anime fans to the late night showings, which where un-edited. Johnathan Clements left the show to write for Newtype USA and 'SE' began to focus more around the gaming show and began to use the anime as a 'filler' so to speak. They couldn't really stop mid-season.

Ultimate Gamers was the only thing to survive Saiko Exciting.

Possible reasons?
Old Anime? I had already seen the Evangelion movies by the time the show was aired. ADV videos of Nadesico and Eva had been around years before. Atleast CNX's anime was a good choice as they weren't die hard shows.

Granted Bebop and Evangelion have huge fanbases but you get what im trying to get at. Evangelion does define the 'difference' of anime to western animation. To much so infact. I'll admit i watched the series on Saiko Exciting but i found Shinji annoying and i simply switched over to wait for him to 'do something. Eva is in my opinion a frustrating series.

The DVD market is selective so im not surprised thats expanding. I think it would be prudent to wait for the UK AnimeNetwork annonced at AmeCon, and hope Adult Swim (which i think'll consist of Ripping Friends, Teen Hunger Force and all the other CNX filler shows) will pick up the idea of putting anime on.

We live in a country of dreamers and TV regulations, terestrial channels won't take the huge risk as it could lose money. Channel 4 don't have the funding right now. ITV is based around 'light entertainment' and the BBC was set up to "Inform, Educate and Entertain" in that order of importance. This is where i turn to BBC 2. BBC 2 has always been a hope in the back of my mind.

BBC 2 was set up to serve minorites. What can be more in the minority than hardcore fans? Although it does still have the problem of being a PSB, with the same requirements as BBC 1. So unless the BBC gets more money it won't have the funding.

It may sound bad but i believe that the amount of anime on Tv, wheather terrestrial or digital/sky/cable relies on who gets the TvLicence in 2006.

Scary isn't it.
 
There is not enough profanity in all the languages in all the world to express my reaction to that Adult Swim outcome.

Anybody know how much it would cost to set up a TV channel? :p
 
>> I think it would be prudent to wait for the UK AnimeNetwork annonced at AmeCon, and hope Adult Swim (which i think'll consist of Ripping Friends, Teen Hunger Force and all the other CNX filler shows) will pick up the idea of putting anime on.

Hmmm... I can think of another idea... although it would be laughed at and thrown out of the window. ^_^;

Setup a small public owned anime broadcaster. Base the broadcaster in Cornwall (well... I think the main four broadcasters being based in London is a little unfair). Give it £15million per year to operate itself (and make it accountable to the DCMS). It would create around 70 jobs locally.

For broadcasting hours I would suggest 9:00pm - 12:15am (having a 24-hour channel seems pointless and if you ask me and you would get higher audience figures if everyone has to watch at a certain time). It will have advertising, but no advertising would be permitted inbetween programmes or films and product placement would be forbidden. It would also be required to provide translations in Welsh, Scottish and Irish on certain programmes.

As for the content, it should provide a wide range of anime shows and films (some which you might not consider watching before) and it should produce some of it's programming in-house (such as a nightly update (that probably needs a bit more elaberation), review show, Right-To-Reply/Points of View style programme, the odd documentary which makes the BBFC blush ^^;).

It would also need transmission facilities, it will need to get a transponder on the Astra (2D*?) satellitte but broadcasting on DTT network would not be a priority (nearly all anime fans have Sky). Cable might be a possibility but it would need a bit of research and goodwill from the cable companies. Extra space on the transponder can be rented out to local radio station (BBC Radio Cornwall, Pirate FM, forthcoming second commerical radio station) and the forthcoming RSL television station.

It should not be regulated by Ofcom (from my view, they can't seem to do anything bloody right at all) but by the DCMS themselves (yes I know... government interference and all that...).

The progress of the broadcaster would be reviewed at certain intervals by the DCMS (every two years for example).

However, I get the feeling it might just backfire completely (remember the articles in the newspapers saying it's all pr0n? Plus the fact it's a public owned broadcaster and then everyone would be demanding it's privatisation although newspapers do have a smaller effect than they used to have... unless some Mary Whitehouse wannabee notices then the broadcaster might be able to get away with it) and it could cause more harm than good.

I also have the feeling that the AnimeNetwork here won't be viable (but this depends on how it's going to be done).

* It should be noted that Astra 2D is a UK beam satellite but it can be picked up across Europe, so the broadcaster may be forced into signing a contract with Sky (soft encryption so that people who have Sky cards here can view it, but don't need to subscribe to Sky in order to see the channel and keeps everyone else in Europe out).
 
Sounds like you know your stuff Shenny.

You need £15 million to set up a TV channel? Jeez. Or is that just for the bigger Terrestrial companies? Surely some of the cheaper channels like 'Overload TV' didn't cost that much? I remember P-Rock TV (British punk rock music channel like Kerrang etc) on Sky Digital around a year ago, and it was self proclaimed 'DIY TV'. They went bust in the end due to lack of advertisment revenue but it goes to show that setting up your own channel isn't impossible.

Excusing the blatent naviety, I'll be honest and say that I'd certainly be interersted in supporting a venture to set up an anime TV channel. But then there are several sizable obstacles in the way, including how much it would cost to start up and then how much would have to be paid to keep it running daily.
 
Would you believe im a C grade media student? :p

The cost varies depending on what type of channel your bidding for. It could cost upto 15 Milion for a large comercial channel. Although small regional channels can be bought for around 5,000. The problem of funding will come from wheather Ofcom will allow you to be a commercial channel with few PSB requirements or say that you shall be a PSB. If the latter occurs you will have to inform, educate and
entertain, but you'll recieve a substancial chunk of the licence fee.

Commercial channels are obviously orientated around getting ratings inorder to gain financial backing from advertisers.

I wrote the 15 Million as a way to show just how much money you would have to have inorder to pay staff, overheads, licences and various other things. That is morea of a yearly figure however.
 
Its pretty annoying that there wont be anime on adult swim but the adult swim shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Space Ghost Coast To Coast are DAMN funny so it makes it not that bad.
 
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