As usual, the journalist didn't bother speaking to anyone involved in the distribution of anime in the UK! I wish he had, so we can set the record straight. Manga has been trying to get its anime programs like Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex, Naruto, Bleach and Death Note onto satelittle, digital and terrestrial TV for years with no luck (apart from Anime Central, which dies a quick death). We can't even give the stuff away for free!
The more people that see the shows on TV, the greater the chance we'll sell more DVDs, which is our core business. I can't even get Film Four to premier Ghost In The Shell Innocence for crying out loud! And even when Film Four ran it's Studio Ghibli retrospective the viewing figures were disappointingly low.
The other main reason TV Programers shy away from anime is that
our core audience (males aged 13-18 years old) has migrated en-mass away from television to new media. This very hard to reach demographic is more at home online, gaming or pursuing other interests away from the idiot box. That's why Manga has started streaming its shows online for free or download to own on iTUNES and download to rent on Xbox Live market place. You can actually watch the first 4 episodes of GURREN LAGAN for free at
www.manga.co.uk now. Another 4 episodes will air in a fortnight's time. We'll also be screening Afro Samurai and Afro Samurai Resurrection in the coming weeks as well as Robotech. We're also launching Fullmetal Alchemist on our own site by Summer's end. We will catch up with the first 15 episodes and then show one new episode every week following the Japanese broadcast.