Quote:
Originally Posted by TurkeyPotPie
This is what I miss the most about current anime. The market seems to be highly polarized (and getting more so) and split between super-niche late night otaku fare and strictly childrens anime in daytime slots.
Looking back on some of my favorite old shows, I really would like to know more about how TV series were funded before late night anime. Shows backed by toys obviously relied on their toy sponsors, but I assume the rest had to actually survive on ratings? I can't imagine they relied on video sales, since back then it seemed that video releases were well after the end of the show (and often in super-expensive low print run LD boxes). Many shows based on manga didn't air until the manga was finished (or close to it) so it's not like the publishers were brokering the anime to increase manga sales.
|
As far as I know anime has had to rely on external sponsors from the start. I guess it's not that important to have product placement in the show if the show can be targeted at the sponsors desired demographic . For example Sazae-san, a family show, was sponsored by consumer electronics firms like Toshiba. Also anime for daytime TV is normally pure commision work for the studio, they are not a risk bearing partner, so video sales would be irrelevant.
I guess there were also some other factors. Before the rise of cable TV the audience was far less fragmented so it could have been worthwile to apeal to more the core demographic with a single show. Also the capital/labor cost ratio might still have been in favour of animation at the time.