SPTI to Launch Animax in Spain

LONDON, April 3: Sony
Pictures Television International (SPTI) will roll out its Japanese anime
channel Animax in Spain on April 12 via IPTV operator
Imagenio, part of Telefónica España.

This marks the arrival of
the third Sony Pictures channel in Spain, following the rollouts of free-to-air SET en VEO (Sony Entertainment Television) in
September 2006 and pay-TV channel AXN in November 1998. In addition to making Animax available over IPTV in Spain,
SPTI also confirmed that it is in advanced negotiations with other pay-TV
operators in the region for carriage of the channel.

At launch, the
Spanish feed of Animax will feature anime
series such as Nana and Peach Girl,
along with classics like Detective Conan
and Lupin, and adventure and crime investigation series such as Samurai
Champloo and Le Chevalier D'Eon. Along with the broadcast of the most recent anime series, the launch includes the anime movie Ghost in the Shell, as well as Appleseed and Kai Doh Maru.

Animax airs 24 hours a day in 41 million homes across 49 countries. The
channel offers a mix of anime programming
covering several genres such as action, sci-fi, comedy, drama and romance. It
is primarily targeted at teens and young adults in the 15-to-35 group.

Ross Hair, the senior VP of international networks at SPTI,
commented: “Spain is a tremendously important market for our networks business
so expanding our presence with SPTI’s third channel here is an exciting
development for us. Animax is a truly different entertainment experience for
Spanish viewers, offering the latest, coolest anime programming and related features
around the anime lifestyle. Animax delivers an
advertiser-friendly audience of young, engaged, tech-savvy people looking for
alternatives to traditional TV.”

Added Juan Maria Romeu,
the senior VP and general
manager of SPTI Networks Iberia: “We are very excited to bring a dedicated anime
channel to Spain. Since the launch of the first Animax channel in Japan in
1998, our business has gained vast experience in launching and marketing our
anime offering. Animax already has a strong and growing presence in Germany and
across Central Europe and I know that fans in Spain will be thrilled with the hot
new series and movies on our channel.”

—By Irene Lew