The Japanese TV Asahi Holdings Corporation has announced that it will place a clear focus on anime in the future and expand the medium as one of its most important business areas. We summarize.
Anime as a core business
The project of the media group, which is particularly active in the areas of TV broadcasting and program production, is called the “Anime IP Doubling Plan”. The aim of this initiative is – as the name suggests – to double the amount of anime titles produced and at the same time increase the profits of the anime segment by at least one and a half times.
In order to implement the clearly defined plan, the company plans to no longer only participate selectively in individual productions. Instead, a vertical structure should be created for anime brands that bundles all steps – from conception and development through production to marketing, sales and global expansion – in one process.
In addition, we will work more closely with anime studios in the future in order to specifically strengthen our own skills in production and project management. In this context, for example, collaborations with Toei Animation (“Pretty Cure”) and Shin-Ei Animation (“The Dangers in My Heart”) were mentioned.
In addition to the planned doubling of projects, the proportion of productions in which the company acts as a leading partner is also to be increased.
Finally, a realignment of the late evening program is also planned, which also includes an adjustment to the previous evaluation criteria. In this context, additional anime broadcast slots are to be set up in the late night channel.
In the future, however, the traditional audience rating alone should no longer be the decisive factor for the success of a production, but factors such as streaming access, the overall result of the program and the strength of the IP should also be taken into account.
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Via Otaku Research Institute
© Norio Sakurai, Akita Shoten / The Dangers in My Heart Production Committee