Ask John: Is the Industry Satisfied with American Online Viewership?
Question:
While there still isn’t enough anime legally available to the US for my taste, America (and basically the rest of the world) can now watch more anime through legal channels than they ever could. So, is the anime industry happy with people watching the Gonzo shows on YouTube/Crunchyroll, buying anime off of iTunes, and purchasing shows like Xam’d on the PS3?
Answer:
Is the anime industry pleased with the penetration and viewership of anime into non-traditional, authorized distribution methods? On one hand, I think it’s safe to say that the anime industry will never be completely satisfied with the viewership of anime unless every human being on the planet watched nothing but anime. There’s always room for growth and expansion, no matter how successful an industry is.
To be more realistic, the answer to this question depends partially upon a distinction between the American and Japanese industry. FUNimation, for example, I’ve been informed, has been very pleased with the consumer support that distributing anime on iTunes has generated. Similarly, Viz Media has stated publicly that it is pleased with the response it’s seen to online anime distribution, although online distribution hasn’t exceeded expectations.
Gonzo has made significant strides toward international anime distribution via non-traditional outlets including YouTube and Crunchyroll, but many of these advances have had little measurable impact on the American distribution industry. It’s great that Tower of Druaga, Blassreiter, Strike Witches, and Hennako-chan are available online, but since these shows aren’t licensed for American DVD release, none of America’s anime distributors are earning any income from the online distribution of these titles.
Other Japanese anime distributors including Bandai and Toei have made significant moves to distribute anime online and via cellphones and other non-traditional devices in Japan. But these companies have made little or no effort to advance similar distribution overseas.
Domestically, online video and video on demand quite hasn’t blossomed the way the mainstream American home entertainment industry hoped and expected it to. Numerous industry studies and industry analysts agree that average American consumers are willing to support non-traditional commerce for music, but not for video. The American internet infrastructure presently isn’t conducive to supporting efficient, commerical quality online video on demand, and technology to transfer online video to the television set hasn’t become affordable and widespread. So while non-traditional anime distribution in America may be moderately successful among tech-savvy anime fans, its current potential audience is small. So the extent to which the American anime industry can possibly be satisfied by the success of non-traditional anime distribution is limited.
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“technology to transfer online video to the television set hasn’t become affordable and widespread”
^^^ I think breaking this barrier would be the key to making online distribution of video mainstream, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone making strides in this direction… Like an iPod that could hook directly to your TV or something like that. Does anything like that even exist or in development?
I think a lot of people like myself are stuck in a vintage collectors’ mode where we consider our DVDs trophies and testiments to our dedication to our passion. My friends and I have a rules that states the numbers in our collection only count if the DVD is a legitimate US release. No bootlegs or downloads apply.
Frankly, I doubt I’ll change. If I’m going to pay for something, I’d like a physical object in return. It’s an age-old trade system, and I think it works, but times are changing, and media seems to be moving in this direction.
I agree with Bob (the Viking?) in that the development of home theater-style digital file viewing is lacking. There’s something a lot more comfortable about sitting back in a home theater over being hunch over a computer monitor. You can hook up a computer to a TV with fair ease nowadays, but that process is usually clunky and exspensive if you want a system for just that. An affordable digital video/audio/picture player for your TV that can receive files via USB or Internet is a good idea. XBox 360 and Playstation 3 are already on the forefront of this, so mainstream stand-alone units shouldn’t be too far behind.