AnimeCentral

Infobox TV channel
dummy parameter=
name=Anime Central
logosize=150px
logofile=AnimeCentral.pnglogoalt=Official Logo
logo2= Logo as it appears on screen
launch=September 13, 2007
closed date=August 27, 2008
replaced by names=Showcase TV
share = <0.1%
share as of = February 2008
share source = [ [http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/monthreports.cfm?report=monthgmulti BARB Monthly Viewing Summary] ]
picture format = 4:3, 576i (SDTV)
owner=CSC Media Group
country= United Kingdom
sister names=
web= [http://animecentral.com animecentral.com]
terr avail= Not Available
sat serv 1 = Sky Digital
sat chan 1 = Channel 199
sat serv 2 = Eurobird 1
sat chan 2 = 11642V 27500 2/3|

Anime Central is a programming block on Showcase TV airing Anime. It was formerly a British television channel owned by CSC Media Group. The channel launched on September 13, 2007. It was first announced on August 5, 2007 though its licence first appeared on the Ofcom website in January (initially named "Toon TV", this was changed to Anime Central in June). The channel ran from 9pm to 6am, free-to-air on Sky Digital's Digital TV Platform, channel 199; and it was the only channel broadcast in the UK and Ireland which was dedicated solely to showing Anime.

Anime was only broadcast between 9pm and 6am. The channel originally timeshared with Pop Girl (another CSC Media Group channel) but recently more bandwidth had become available and the channel no longer needs to timeshare. The extra broadcast capacity was filled with the channel logo or teleshopping. The channel was shutdown on August 27, 2008 being replaced with Showcase TV but Anime Central has its programming block everynight at 12am-3am on Showcase TV, which was renumbered to channel 188 at the beginning of September.

Initially the channel did not broadcast in anamorphic widescreen. Programmes made in 16:9 format were screened in letterbox format. In 2008 a few late-season episodes of "Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: 2nd Gig" were screened in 16:9 anamorphic. [ [http://www.animecentral.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=31230 Anime Central - Forums - Widescreen?] ]

Programming

The regular schedule comprises six series, with a different episode broadcast every day. [ [http://www.animecentral.com/series/ Anime Central - Series] ] These make a three-hour block, which is then repeated twice through to 6:00am. Each series is usually repeated once before a major schedule change is made, unless the series is much longer than the standard length of 26 episodes. However, since 1/3/2008 the schedule has changed, first to three double-bills, then to two triple-bills. The reasons for the change are unknown and reactions to this change on the channel's forum have generally been negative. [ [http://animecentral.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=47627&mpage=5&key= Anime Central Forums - Schedule from late Feb] ]

Anime programmes that aired on AnimeCentral

*"Bleach"
*"Cowboy Bebop"
*"Fullmetal Alchemist"
*""
*""
*""
*"Gundam SEED"
*".hack//SIGN"
*"Planetes"
*"s-CRY-ed"
*""
*""
*""
*"Vision of Escaflowne"
*"Witch Hunter Robin"
*"Wolf's Rain"

Christmas marathons

Over the 2007 Christmas season, from 21/12/2007 until 4/1/2008, [ [http://www.animecentral.com/news/story.aspx?ID=79 Anime Central - News - Ho, Ho, Ho... Anime Central Announce Their Festive Schedule!] ] the regular schedule was replaced by marathons of these 3 popular anime shows:
*"Cowboy Bebop" (21/12/2007 - 23/12/2007)
*"Fullmetal Alchemist" (24/12/2007 - 29/12/2007)
*"Bleach" (30/12/2007 - 4/1/2008)Nine consecutive episodes of a series were shown each day to form a 4½ hour block, except on the final day of each series' marathon which had fewer episodes. Each block was repeated until 6:00am.

ubtitling

Although all series are currently broadcast dubbed into English, a popular topic of discussion on the AnimeCentral forums is of the member's preferences for Anime dubbed into English or in Japanese with English subtitles. [ [http://www.animecentral.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=12005 Anime Central - Forums - Will Anime Central show anime in subtitles?] ] [ [http://www.animecentral.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=6691 Anime Central - Forums - should the sic|anime|s|nolink=1 on channel 199 be in japanese with subs?] ] Perhaps as a result of the high demand for both, during late 2007 the last repeat of the night of "Cowboy Bebop" and ".hack//SIGN" were broadcast in Japanese with English subtitles.

Closure and replacement

On 3 June 2008, an updated list of UK TV licenses from OFCOM no longer listed Anime Central as a licensed channel, [http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/tvlicensing/cs/main.htm OFCOM UK TV Licenses] reinforcing the long-standing speculation on the Anime Central forums that the channel would soon close. [ [http://www.animecentral.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=58485 Anime Central Forums - The 'what's going with the channel/line-up' thread] ] [http://www.animecentral.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=90772 Anime Central Forums - Bye Bye Anime Central] ] However, the same OFCOM data indicated that CSC Media Group is set to start a new cartoon channel called True Entertainment, prompting further speculation on the Anime Central Forums that some of the channel's programming could move to the new channel. By 14 June, confirmation that the channels's license to operate was being replaced in favour of True Entertainment, had appeared on OFCOM's monthly updates page for May 2008. [ [http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/ifi/tvlicensing/tvupdates/monthly/200805 OFCOM - Television Broadcast Licensing Update May 2008] ] Despite a fleeting suggestion on Sky's Electronic Programme Guide that a new schedule, combining content from Pop Girl, True Movies 2 and Anime Central, might start on 20 August, Sky's EPG quickly reverted to the previous schedule of triple bills and teleshopping. [http://tv.sky.com/tvlistings Sky Interactive TV guide] "(unfortunately, it is not possible to link directly to individual channel listings or to past channel listings)"] On 26 August, 2008. True Entertainment's OFCOM Licence was re-named to Showcase TV. On 27 August, 2008, Showcase TV launched. AnimeCentral survived as a 3-hour block of programming from midnight to 3 AM, using the channel's original logos, DOG and continuity announcements. At the beginning of the new schedule the block carried the same triple bills of "Cowboy Bebop" and "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" that were previously seen in rotation on the full-time channel.

References

External links

* [http://www.animecentral.com/ Official website]