SCI FI TAKES ON LATE-NIGHT WITH ANI-MONDAY ANIME BLOCK
Strategy to Embrace Consumer Lifestyle
NEW YORK � May 7, 2007 - SCI FI today announced Ani-Monday, a weekly Anime programming block, Monday nights from 11 pm to 1 am (ET/PT) beginning June 11. Ani-Monday will feature a collection of movies, series and shorts from Starz Media's successful Anime distribution arm, Manga, and marks SCI FI's first foray into original late-night programming.
"SCI FI's Ani-Monday is more than a programming block, it represents a lifestyle," said Dave Howe, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SCI FI Channel. "It speaks to the young, tech-savvy, video game playing consumer and it is quickly becoming a mainstream phenomenon. SCI FI has the unique opportunity to own the anime category."
SCI FI's Ani-Monday will feature the exclusive premiere of the anime phenomenon Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society. In addition, Ani-Monday will feature films like Ninja Scroll, Blood, The Last Vampire, Read or Die and Blackjack. The anime block will also be home to premieres of new genre series such as Tokko, Noein and classic series such as Street Fighter II V.
SCI FI will put an original spin on the anime style with kinetic, integrated promos and bumpers that creatively combine clips with a unique play on words, leveraging an Ani pre-fix, such as Ani-buy, Ani-mobile, Ani-liscious. These provocative eye-catching executions of branded Ani-Monday bumpers and teasers will be fully sponsorable, providing advertisers with a fully customized and integrated experience that is as engaging and entertaining as the programming content.
Digitally, audiences will be able to navigate their own anime experience, directly interacting with online and mobile content. SCI FI.com will host a robust interactive content area specifically designed to engage with the lifestyle of the consumer.
Anime is known for its visually arresting imagery, cutting-edge CGI effects and wide range of action and sci fi plot lines. The provocative art and animation style that originated in Japan has become increasingly popular in the United States and abroad, particularly among younger demos.
From progressive re-imaginings of classic science fiction and contemporary earth-based dramedys to SCI FI's supernatural twist on reality shows, the Channel delivers a full range of films, series and specials that reflect viewers' enthusiasm for a variety of programming that fires the imagination unlike anything else on television.
Manga Entertainment Ltd. is an entertainment company specializing in the production, marketing and distribution of Japanese animation for theatrical, television, Internet, DVD and home video release worldwide. The Manga film library is marketed and distributed in the U.S. through Starz Home Entertainment. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in London and Tokyo. Manga is a division of Starz Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Group.
SCI FI Channel is a television network where "what if" is what's on. SCI FI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site (www.scifi.com) and magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in 89 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies.
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