VIZ Media Licenses Naruto to Chilevision

SAN FRANCISCO, April 24: VIZ Media
has licensed 52 episodes of its popular anime series Naruto to Chilean terrestrial broadcaster Chilevision for launch
in the second half of this year.

In terms of other Latin American
broadcast deals to-date for Naruto, 52
episodes of the series have been picked up by Peru’s America TV, and by Televideo
Services for Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Paraguay
and Honduras. In addition, America TV, TV Globo in Brazil and Televideo
Services have also picked up 52 episodes of Zatch Bell! Other Latin American deals for Naruto are still pending.

Naruto is currently airing on Cartoon Network in North America. The
animated series chronicles the adventures of a young boy named Naruto Uzumaki
who is training to become a ninja. The manga counterpart, which is published under VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump, recently placed at number 25 on the notable USA
Today Top 150 Best Seller list.

“The Naruto agreement
with Chilevision will bring one of the hottest and most popular brands to an
audience that is fast developing an appreciation for unmatched story-telling
and quality animation,” said Andrea Gonzalez, the senior licensing manager at
VIZ Media. “The popularity of Naruto is growing
significantly worldwide and Latin America is no exception. It's amazing to be
involved with a series with such a global acceptance and licensing the animated
series in a market as important as Chile only serves to validate this series'
universal appeal.”