English Entertainment
Animax to launch with two-hour Hindi feed
MUMBAI: The stage is set and almost ready for the launch of the fourth channel from the Sony stable, Animax, on 5 July.
One feature of the predominantly English (at least in the initial phase) Japanese Anime channel that targets 4-25 year-olds is that, following the lead of AXN, Animax will have a two-hour long Hindi dubbed feed.
The feed will be for two hours in the evening. Speaking this afternoon to Indiantelevision.com SET’s ad sales and revenue management head Rohit Gupta said, “This will enable us to also reach the non Metro sectors. Having a 24-hour feed is something that we could look at as things progress. It is not going to be a channel only for the English speaking elite in the Metros. Our aim is to make it as mass as possible and touch as many viewers as we can.
“Animax is positioned for the young generation worldwide. Our target group is the 4-30 year old. While animation in India has been kids driven unless we show something different habits will not change. In India the brands most popular among the teens is Japanese Anime which is what our channel is all about. So we want to expand the market not only for the kids but also take it to the teen level.”.
Therefore the advertisers that come onboard will also be targeting the teens. While no advertiser has been roped in One Alliance has been talking to major advertisers who are on MTV and Channel (V). Gupta further revealed that a brand ambassador had been roped in to give the channel a major marketing push. Details on this will be announced shortly. There will be outdoors, print etc. The ambassador will naturally be someone that the youth can closely relate with.
Asked why the push was coming in so late Gupta pointed out that the distribution scenario would have to be sorted out first. So the initial push will happen on the distribution front. Animax will have a separate feed for India. The FPC is being done differently compared to Japan where adult animation is popular. As far as content is concerned Gupta added that Astro Turf was a show that was being looked at as a driver. “While it does appeal mainly to a younger audience we have to start somewhere. Then we build up our efforts from there. Astro Turf is a known show.”
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
