Viz Media has announced that, starting in October new episodes of Naruto Shippuden will air every week on Disney’s XD cable channel.  The XD channel targets boys from 6-14, which makes it a perfect match for Naruto.  Set some two-and-one-half years after the original Naruto anime series, which proved to be a major hit on the Cartoon Network, Naruto Shippuden has been available in subtitled form on a number of Internet sites since early this year and the various webcastings have attracted large numbers of viewers (see “Free Naruto Anime Available in U.S.”).

The popularity of the Shippuden episodes on the Web, plus the success of the Masashi Kissimoto’s original Naruto manga, which has been the #1 manga title in the U.S. for four years, all bode well for the success of the broadcast of dubbed episodes of the series on Disney XD.  After a fairly slow start, ratings for the Disney XD channel have been building.  The addition of Naruto Shippuden along with the potential provided by Disney’s pending acquisition of Marvel should eventually result in the XD network becoming a true powerhouse with its target demo of young boys.

Viz Media is releasing its first Shippuden DVD in September (see “First Shippuden DVD in September”), just two weeks after Tomy debuts its Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Destiny 2 game for the Nintendo DS.  A month after the Shippuden anime debuts on the XD cable channel, Tomy is releasing Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 for the Nintendo Wii.