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Greetings,

I was wondering if anyone would be able to clear up a slight misconception in regard to anime licensing. What is the deference between Network (e.g. Funimation Channel) and web based (e.g. Funimation Online Streams)?

Simulcast is a fantastic idea and works great, however how come they do not simulcast cast on the networks? I know it cannot be "true simulcast" due to time zones, but why not show big time titles their already simulcasting online, also on the network. Or better yet how come they have not made a NA simulcast anime network.

I'm sure they would get more exposure on networks as well, channel surfers might stumble onto a cool moment and become hooked. It seems in my eyes keeping up to date anime on the web, is not allowing it to spread from the centralized niche market.

Smile

Sorry if I was unable to articulate my idea in a more coherent matter.

A "channel surfer" would hear Japanese and flip the channel immediately, never seeing such "cool moment".

I don't have the FUNimation Channel, but I'm pretty sure they only broadcast English dubbed shows... which simulcasts simply are not.

Maybe or maybe not. More exposure never hurt anyone. While it is true Funimation only shows dubs, my question is what is stopping them from showing the online simulcast on the network? Simple combine the formats, mostly dub and a few simulcast. Couldn't hurt.

I might be totally wrong but I would think that online simulcast distribution would be a totally different type of license than that of one for network television distribution.

There are a few reasons why I doubt this will ever really happen. First of all subed anime usually doesn't do well on tv, and that's because your average (non anime fan) viewer doesn't want to put up with subtitles. So networks are really only interested in airing dubed anime (except under special situations). Secondly, as batou37 stated, I'm pretty sure rights to simulcasts aren't the same as rights to broadcast. I think there's another line of negotiation and contracts before anime can be shown on tv. Of course we don't really have a way to verify this because companies don't like to reveal any amount of information about contracts and finance. And and finally, people who care to watch simulcasts are usually willing to watch it online. Lets face it, a normal "channel suffer" wont know or care that Funimation is simulcasting One Piece or Shiki. The people who do know about these simulcasts are perfectly willing to go online to watch these shows.

In the end simulcasts aren't for the average tv watcher, they're for the anime fan that doesn't want to wait for the dvd release.

batou37 wrote:

I might be totally wrong but I would think that online simulcast distribution would be a totally different type of license than that of one for network television distribution.

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Digital rights isn't the same as television rights.

For instance, FUNimation has the DVD rights to Kenichi and the TV rights (it airs on their channel I think). But it's not streaming anywhere.

Megiddo wrote:

A "channel surfer" would hear Japanese and flip the channel immediately, never seeing such "cool moment".

I don't have the FUNimation Channel, but I'm pretty sure they only broadcast English dubbed shows... which simulcasts simply are not.

This has been done before. Bandai simulcasted the dub of Kurokami on The International Channel. I'd love to see more people try this, but I imagine it's really expensive.

The International Channel (AZN TV) went off the air as of 2008. Kurokami aired in the start of 2009. I'm not sure how that could be possible.

Megiddo wrote:

The International Channel (AZN TV) went off the air as of 2008. Kurokami aired in the start of 2009. I'm not sure how that could be possible.

Sorry i meant Imginasian. I get the two mixed up.

In the last year we've started getting US shows on UK TV within weeks of them airing in the US.
Now consider how many years it has taken to get to this point, and how much larger the market for shows for Fringe and Bones is compared to subtitled anime...