Connected device specialist SyncTV is bringing new Japanese animation shows to the U.S., including the popular “Eagle Talon Secret Society" and other TV titles like “Coffy the Tomb Tyke," and is leveraging connected devices to do so. The development is a bit of a harbinger for what pay-TV operators hate to think about: a la carte programming.
Japanese animation studio Dream Link Entertainment (DLE) is looking to leverage the explosion of video-friendly connected devices, and will use SyncTV’s digital video distribution platform to create custom DLE-branded Web video channels for the Flash-enabled content. Viewers can access the programming via specific widgets for Roku set-top-boxes, Android-powered mobile devices, connected TVs, Blu-ray players and more. The apps can be centrally managed by DLE via a single Web-based interface.
The distribution plan allows DLE to circumvent operators and the attendant licensing negotiations that go with them. And it’s not alone: HBO GO has also mulled “going direct" to consumers rather than just be an offshoot of a cable subscription, as has BET, Major League Baseball and Dreamworks. The concept looms like a specter in the wings over an industry that has seen a proliferation of Web video options. Content companies of course like the advertising, licensing and subscription revenue that comes with operator distribution, but they’re also trying to read the tea leaves in terms of how consumers will want to watch TV in an era of connected everything, good broadband and tight wallets.
DLE is rolling the dice. “Experience has taught us that the U.S. youth market respects the originality and style of Japanese animation, so we believe our content will find a welcome home in the United States," said Ryuta Shiiki, president and executive producer of DLE. “Given that the viewing of video content has become so fragmented recently, we greatly appreciate the ability to quickly reach millions of viewers across different types of media and devices through a single virtual Internet broadcast platform from SyncTV."
