Sony Pictures Entertainment is launching Animax Asia, the first 24-hour-a-day anime network outside of Japan, this month. The network will be distributed to Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Indonesia, with more countries to follow. Sony estimates that there are 94 million TV viewers of anime in Asia.
Animax is already the #1 cable and satellite network in Japan, where it was launched in 1998. The network is a partnership between Sony Pictures Entertainment and four major anime studios -- Toei Animation, Sunrise, TMS Entertainment, and Nihon Ad Systems.