Two new announcements of online availability for significant anime content, with different delivery locations and business models, emphasize both the growing availability of such legal content and the at times bewildering array of options for delivering that content.
Viz Media announced today that it was making uncut, subtitled episodes of Naruto, Bleach, and Death Note available on Joost.com, a relatively new Internet TV service that Viz has been eyeballing for at least a year (see “Interview with Dan Marks, Part 2”). Those episodes will be streamed to users that use the downloadable Joost player on their home computers at no cost to the viewer (ads will be displayed to the user).
Last week, Jaman.com announced that it would be making Manga Entertainment films and TV episodes available on a download to rent basis at its Website. The programming, available in high definition, is downloadable for $1.99 per episode or $2.99 per feature to view within 24 hours. Ghost in the Shell, Robotech, Astro Boy, Street Fighter II V, Noein, Karas, and Tactics are all included in this program.
Companies that make their film and television content available online through legal means believe that it primarily impacts users that would obtain the material online anyway through file-sharing or other illegal means. Proponents from major content houses note the over-all increasing sales of DVDs while online accessibility has grown. Of course, that has not been the case with anime, on which DVD sales have dropped substantially as online availability has grown, but that’s generally attributed to illegal file-sharing rather than legal streaming or downloading.
What observers are less sure of is which method of online video delivery will eventually prevail and become the dominant channel of distribution. The two deals above are ad-supported streaming and download-to-rent, but download-to-own, free downloadable content, pay or subscription video on demand through cable, and other distribution models are also out there.
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, at a Goldman Sachs conference last week (as reported by Home Media Magazine) talked about the range of options available. “Legitimate companies throughout the distribution channel make the product available on time, at a good price, in a good format [and] in a different way: rent, buy or watch with ads," he said. "That is going to be the answer, and it is pretty well on the way.”
