Anime Expo 2007

The Anime Network

Representatives: Stacy Dodson and April Breen

No new announcements were made at The Anime Network panel, it was mostly dedicated to speaking about upcoming new shows, distribution and some of of their Anime Expo plans as well as Q&A.

At 3:30 PM today, at the ADV booth, The Anime Network will hold a “Ultimate Voice Actor Challenge,” where contestants will be invited to voice act an anime segment and be judged by professional voice actors like Vic Mignogna and Chris Patton The winner will receive a video iPod loaded with anime.

James Kyson Lee (Ando on NBC's hit Heroes television series) is at AX, and will be hosting episodes of Anime Access. He will be interviewing fans in the convention center.

They repeated the information announced earlier this week that they are available in five new markets. These markets are:

Bresnan – Now available on a system-by-system basis. Hawaiian Telecom – In test starting July 1 in Honolulu on Channel 171. BendBroadband – Now available on Channel 156 in Oregon BELD Broadband – Now available on Channel 620 in Braintree, Massachusetts Volcano Vision – Available July 1 on Channel 171 in California.

The Anime Network is also in discussion with both DISH// and DirecTV, which is launching a VOD service. One of the representatives stated, "Anything is possible, we're talking to everyone." If you want The Anime Network, the best way to get the network in your local area is to call your cable or satellite provider and request the network.

It was stated, “We are thinking of putting streaming content on the website, but it would only be one or two websites at a time that would be offered for free in conjunction with the premieres on TAN.

They played some scenes from episode one of some of their upcoming series Ninja Nonsense, Air TV and Innocent Venus.

An episode of AIR TV will be screened at the ADV/TAN booth at noon and will be narrated by Vic Mignogna.

The Anime Network was a major sponsor of the American Anime Awards, which featured Pierre Bernard from the Conan O'Brian show. Bernard apparently enjoyed the experience so much that he gave The Anime Network a big plug on a subsequent episode of his “Recliner of Rage.” The clip was screened, during which Bernard stated, “No East cost cable provider carries The Anime Network .... East coast cable companies should carry TAN 24 hours a day so that I can always hear the angelic voices of Nene Romanov and Sylia Stingray.”

Elfen Lied was the most successful series On Demand. Regularly 500,000 people watch Anime Network on Demand on a monthly basis.