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NEWS: East Asia Television Channel Closes Before Launch


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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 6248
Location: Katy, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 9:17 pm Reply with quote
Yes I just heard about this right now on Twitter. Apparently from reading the article from UK Anime Network, it looks like the whole thing was a professional fraud. They not only anger anime/manga fan but also Hallyu/K-pop/K-dramas fans too. Well as a US fan, I'm sorry for the UK fans that you guys will not get a channel like that, I'm sorry for you guys and Hallyu/K-pop fans in the UK too.
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IchiroFox



Joined: 06 Jul 2011
Posts: 34
PostPosted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 4:36 pm Reply with quote
I'm now quite convinced that there was never going to be an East Asia TV channel. Sounds like a complete mess.

The poll
They asked users on their website to vote for which anime series they wanted to watch on the channel, via an email form. That alone would not have raised suspicions, but they posted "the results" on a blog post. Obviously very popular works like Attack on Titan and Dragonball were up there on a Top 10 list. Nearly all of the shows mentioned in that post are licensed in the UK, so obviously they weren't going to be able to air them.

In hindsight, asking people what series/film they want to watch on your channel, actually is weird. Think about it: what sort of vision does a yet-to-be-running broadcaster have if they have to ask random anonymous people what they want to see?

In a press release just before Christmas, they gave "Spring 2014" as the date for setting out their programming schedule and Sky channel number.

Quote:
Get ready for a brand new kind of television channel, broadcasting in the UK on the Sky Television Platform EAST ASIA TELEVISION will launch MID 2014 bringing you the BEST in Japanese, Chinese and Korean media! Maybe you love anime or want to listen to the K-top 40? Well don’t despair, we’ve got you covered. With tailored programming (And films, don’t forget about the films!) we will beaming all this awesomeness down to your telly-box to store and hoard like a true otaku!


Does that look like a press release to you? It reminds me of an anime fan-page on Facebook.

One the front page of their website, they had a photo of a sushi roll as some sort of placeholder, with the caption something like "We have nothing to put here so here's some sushi ooooOOo delicious sushi!"

Shutting down all forms of communication with public stakeholders without prior notice is strange. Both the website and the twitter feed have been deleted. The WHOIS data for their domain is completely hidden. Most companies would have contact information like email addresses and postal addresses there. They practically evaporated in to thin air overnight, before the vague date of "Spring 2014" that they promised they would reveal factual and specific information.

They pretty much threw promises out left right and centre without consideration. If you are a company, you don't give out "maybe"/"possibly" in your information releases. They said they were looking in to broadcasting on Freeview. An anime/K-pop channel is one thing, but on Freeview? I found that one hard to swallow at the time.

Quote:
The company is now a registered Limited Company according to Companies House, although this registration was only completed on January 30th 2014.
- UK Anime Network

Registration of a company, 3 months after it releases it's first press statement, and 10 days before it shuts down.

Not only that, it's a limited company, so any debts go to the company itself and any members or investors are only liable for what they have paid in to it.

Also,
Quote:

In short, there are currently no available SD slots in Sky's Electronic Programming Guide, meaning that unless you acquire the rights and obligations from an existing broadcaster with an SD EPG slot, there's simply no more space for additional channels. Unconfirmed sources suggest that this state of affairs won't be changing any time soon either.
We also need to note the entry requirements to even apply for an EPG slot with BSkyB - this process is only open to registered companies, and of course as we've already discussed East Asia Television only became a registered company on January 30th 2014
- UK Anime Network

The press release that they said they were going to broadcast on Sky, came out nearly two months prior to this.

Quote:
And so, I take this opportunity, on behalf of those effected and those true supporters, whom we thank dearly from the bottom of our hearts here at East Asia Television, to announce that East Asia Television Broadcasting Ltd. will cease trading on Friday 7th February and close indefinitely. We apologise that we cannot continue our operations but at this time employee protection is our main priority.


What employees? Laughing The more I read it, the more difficult it is to believe it.
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 7578
Location: Wales
PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 3:01 pm Reply with quote
I only know of one employee. I located him using his LinkedIn profile before he changed it, but his details used to be on the whois results also. I only found out about these other "employees" after the whole storm was over and everything was deleted.
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GracieLizzy



Joined: 26 Sep 2006
Posts: 551
Location: Sunderland, England, UK
PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:37 pm Reply with quote
IchiroFox wrote:
Quote:
Get ready for a brand new kind of television channel, broadcasting in the UK on the Sky Television Platform EAST ASIA TELEVISION will launch MID 2014 bringing you the BEST in Japanese, Chinese and Korean media! Maybe you love anime or want to listen to the K-top 40? Well don’t despair, we’ve got you covered. With tailored programming (And films, don’t forget about the films!) we will beaming all this awesomeness down to your telly-box to store and hoard like a true otaku!


Does that look like a press release to you? It reminds me of an anime fan-page on Facebook.


Whilst I actually agree this is looking more and more like a dupe (perhaps with some University students strung along thinking this was a real job opportunity, or internship) the "blokey jokey" language wouldn't have tipped me off as it's reminiscent of the way channels like Dave pitch themselves.

IchiroFox wrote:
One the front page of their website, they had a photo of a sushi roll as some sort of placeholder, with the caption something like "We have nothing to put here so here's some sushi ooooOOo delicious sushi!"


Hehe that made me giggle, yeah in hindsight THAT should have tipped me off. Unless they were implying that they were going to show episodes of the original Iron Chef as well. Confused
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Blob55



Joined: 02 Apr 2014
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:06 pm Reply with quote
I decided to search for UK Animé channels, so I found East Asian Television, but when I searched for it, it says it was cancelled! That escalated quickly...

I get a lot of slack from Americans, as I tend to only know well-known and popular Animé. I can't help not being from a country with no Animé!

Anyway, to warm up people to Animé, I think there should be a general animation channel, which is not just for kids and shows a mix of western and Japanese animation.
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 7578
Location: Wales
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 11:10 am Reply with quote
Streaming is where it is and besides, "well known" anime are the ones that would be most likely to get broadcast time. Any number of obscure anime that get streamed on Crunchyroll don't even get a UK physical license, let alone broadcast. We're almost spoiled for choice with free simulcasts from Crunchyroll, Animax, Wakanim and sometimes Daisuki and NicoNico (yes, we do miss out on some simulcast titles entirely, mostly FUNimation licenses, but there is still more to watch than I can find time for these days)
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