Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! - Red Meat
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kakoishii
Posts: 741 |
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Another great answerman. As much as I liked Brian, I really appreciate how succinct Justin's responses are. Brian would sometimes go on and on waxing philosophically about god knows what that I'd end up skimming most of his columns. Plus Justin earns extra brownie points because he actually answered a question I originally sent to Brian a year ago to no avail.
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heavyweather
 Posts: 97 Location: Fargo, ND |
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I was listening to an episode of The Tech Guy recently, and Leo Laporte basically backed up Justin's writing, and added something that Justin didn't mention: the cost
TechTV had a fairly decent audience, and could make decent money, but the fees that the cable company charged to make TechTV a part of their programming where absurd. So much so that there would be no way for TechTV to make the kind of money they needed to keep it going. Leo talks a lot about how linear cable isn't long for this world, and even if you like cable (I prefer streaming), the internet is probably a better place for anime and tech journalism. |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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FUNi is on U-Verse, but on one of the way-up-there packages of channels nobody gives a crap about. By the time you're in that level of channel additions, you're probably just looking for HBO, Starz, Cinemax, or Showtime.
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victor viper
 Posts: 630 Location: The deep south |
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Yeah, I can recall when ADV was nearing the apex of its great over-expansion, and they were talking about trying to establish the Anime Network as a 24/7 linear cable channel. At the time, I thought that would be incredibly cool, but of course that was just another indicator that ADV had drastically overestimated the market potential of anime in the US.
So, having a linear anime channel would certainly be fun, but it's an idea that's definitely no longer viable (if it ever was viable!) commercially. |
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Joe Carpenter
 Posts: 503 |
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interesting, I always wondered why Tech TV went belly up since they seemed to be pretty popular, it was shocking damn cable companies, I wish Tech TV was still alive 
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief
 Posts: 1684 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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That story runs counter to my experience. Most cable stations get PAID by the cable companies, not the other way around. But the small guys, the ones who aren't owned by Viacom or Disney or somesuch, don't really pay or get paid anything. That said, without SIGNIFICANT ratings or market penetration, you can't sell ads effectively either, which means that the tens of thousands of dollars you pay every month to keep your channel up on the satellites is a total waste. Not to mention all of your other expenses. Cable VOD, meanwhile, is just files you can send the cable companies, so while the format is different, it's not a whole lot worse than uploading content on Hulu. I do agree with Mr. Laporte about one thing, though: cable, specifically linear cable channels, are definitely going to eat it in a serious way in the very near future. That industry is poised to self-destruct over the next five years. |
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WWAanimefan
Posts: 60 Location: Everett WA USA |
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Further proof that the time has indeed past: Comcast once had a deal with Sony to bring Animax to the US. This deal is still out there but was largely rendered moot by Comcast-Universal merger.
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zatheus
 Posts: 78 Location: Ohio |
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I tried Neon Alley and at first I found it kinda nice, even though I owned and/or had seen everything they were showing. After some time past, due to work and some personal issues, I missed enough showings that I just was not available to catch up with some shows that I was behind on. So I cancelled my sub because it was just not matching up with my schedule. Those shows were the newer ones like Zetman and Tiger and Bunny which I had not gotten around to seeing. I tried Hulu plus and I just cant get over the ads. Seriously would pay 3 times the sub to get ad free content but they dont offer that as an option. Oh and I think what truly made me angry was the fact that those ads most times were those annoying 2 or 3 times louder then the show you are watching kind. Also I work nights so imagine watching something at 2am in an appartment complex and having an ad pop up that is extra loud compared to the show your watching on a surround sound system at that. I also got a Crunchyroll account around this same time and I have to say I love it and am still subing to it.
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Penguin_Factory
 Posts: 732 Location: Ireland |
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Just wanted to say I've been reading Justin's columns and I think this is by far my favourite incarnation of Answerman. Before there were always weeks I'd skip a update if none of the questions caught my eye, but now it's essential reading. Love the insider industry information.
Anyway, in regards to anime channels, not to insult the person who asked the question or anything but I always see the yearning for a dedicated anime TV channel to be a kind of nostalgic throwback to the heyday of the anime bubble; I think there was a (not entirely unjustified) perception that anime was going to break through into the mainstream in a big way, and the clearest manifestation of that would be to turn on your TV and have a wide selection of anime just there, waiting to be watched. If there was any chance for that to happen it's long, long since passed- anime's going to be a niche forever, and so it has to be packaged and sold in a way that caters to a niche audience. |
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victor viper
Posts: 630 Location: The deep south |
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That's probably true, and you would think the industry should see it coming. Every month, I mull over the possibility of cancelling my cable after asking "is $X per month for ESPN, MLB network, NFL network, and a handful of other channels really worth it?". Eventually, there will be enough customer flight that the cable companies will realize they can't keep soaking consumers who no longer want to pay for the Style Networks and TLC Networks out there. And maybe we'll finally get a la carte pricing. I'm also enjoying the current iteration of Answerman. I appreciate the insights into the industry. |
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bleachj0j
 Posts: 923 |
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I'm really loving Neon Alley. It's always improving and the new catch up feature makes things much easier
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5420 Location: Iscandar |
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Sad but true, Sentai is making a mistake by rushing their releases. Like Justin has mentioned before, Sentai is licensing and releasing so much new stuff because they want to quickly grow their catalog. That sounds good and all, but I wish for Sentai (my favorite R1 distributor because I dig the shows they release) to slow things down and take their time to do QC.
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PurpleWarrior13
 Posts: 2025 |
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I agree that a 24/7 anime network is a little out there, but I think Toonami's working out really well. Even though it's not all anime, they're given the medium enough exposure just as a little late night block (and there even rumors of expansion). It was even more popular 10 years ago.
I think Neon Alley's got the right idea too. It's a streaming service, and they now have a catch-up feature. Didn't the guys at Viz say it's doing very well right now? I know a few people at school that subscribe to it. As for the credits, Sentai has become such a rushed company, it's not even funny, but they aren't the only guilty ones. Aniplex only credits the lead cast, usually, and back in the day, Viz and Pioneer both just gave a list of the English voice cast (sometimes alphabetical), and CPM only credited the "notable" cast. |
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dragonrider_cody
Posts: 2541 |
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While they have had issues, no doubt, they have been improving as of late. There have been no recent 1080i artifacting issues, like the kind that plagued Penguindrum and Bodacious Space Pirates. The only couple recent issues have been pretty insignificant, and a few were caught before the street date, like Medaka Box. They have also started to fix issues when they arise. I honestly doubt they will ever be perfect, as no R1 anime studio is. Even Aniplex, with their big price tags, has had some notable issues and recalls. Funimation recently had the Sankarea issue, and some print quality issues with several of their box sets, as well as their brightening issues on bluray. Unfortunately, as physically home video continues to die, I see issues only getting worse, not better. Also, I totally agree about linear cable channels biting the dust in the neat future. What I find funny is that Matt Greenfield was ridiculed a few years back for saying the same thing, and stating that's why Anime Network was focusing on VOD and online streaming. Perhaps his foresight was better than people thought? |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14756 |
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animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2013-09-19/24/7-neon-alley-anime-channel-debuts-on-demand-web-catch-up-feature
Not to mention that anime being made nowadays have less and less potential mass appeal. Not enough to fill a channel. Last edited by enurtsol on Sat Oct 05, 2013 3:26 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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