Anime is a big genre in the entertainment world and it is generally, animation style that’s first created in Japan. Compared to other animations style made in the United States and Europe, anime has its own distinctive visual details and storyline. Anime continues to have big influence in the entertainment world and some of the newer cartoons made in the United States are influenced by anime elements.
In the US, anime was first introduced by TV stations under major networks, such as Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS. Saturday Morning lineups are often consisted of various anime. However, in the middle of 1990’s, major networks start to drop animes from their Saturday Morning lineup, due to various factors, strict censorship, the appearance of KidsWB, acquisition of ABC/Capital Cities by Disney and financial reasons.
Live-action programs also became more popular in the end of 1990’s, shifting focus from anime to live action programs. In this case, we should look for new opportunities in the market. Networks are also obtaining more revenue from other sources, such as toys and merchandise. In general, TV networks are essentially business establishments and they seek to gain profit by entertaining people and providing them with information.
This condition has a significant implication on the distribution of anime in the United States. In this case, the company is focused on increasing revenue and not increasing shareholders wealth. The decline of anime broadcasting in the country isn’t related with the decline of quality, but more about the shift of policy. Investors also have significant contribution in determining what kind of programs that should be broadcasted.
Company executives in TV networks often need to make multiple hard and tough decisions to please investors and other people in the upper places. These decisions may not be pleasant for both the audience and TV operators. Production budget may need to be cut and imports of foreign programs can be reduced. This has a significant effect on anime enthusiasts in the United States.
Unfortunately, many of the live action programs for kids and teens that replace anime programs may look plain awful. This could be essential for these people, especially if they want to reduce costs. This is a plain and simple fact. In difficult economic situations, we can’t really blame TV networks for this situation. Although these networks are often seen as too huge to fail, eventually they will be affected by economic situations. Entertainment producers are often pressured to provide quality shows, but this can be quite difficult when there’s limited budget.
For anime lovers in the United States, they could continue to see prettier and flashier visuals in new series, due to improvements in animation technology and computer engineering. There is limited number of anime broadcasting in major US networks, but fans can still watch complete and new series online. There are a few dedicated anime TV channels in the cable and satellite networks, but they are far from being enough in fulfilling the demand of anime lovers in the US.
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