FUNimation Ent., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corp. and the market share leader for home video sales of Japanese animation in the U.S., announced today (June 16, 2006) that the FUNimation Channel is now live in Los Angeles via digital broadcast on LA 18.3. The FUNimation Channel provides 24-hour digital programming featuring top anime brands in the U.S. to more than five million households in the Los Angeles area.
"We are very excited to be working with LA 18 to bring our 24-hour anime channel to the Los Angeles market," said Gen Fukunaga, president/ceo of FUNimation Ent. "LA 18 has a large, established broadcast base of more than five million households and provides anime and entertainment fans with an opportunity to receive the FUNimation Channel free via over-the-air, digital broadcast."
"FUNimation Ent. offers the perfect complement for LA 18," added Peter Mathes, chairman AsianMedia Group, the parent company for LA 18. "Programming the best in anime from Japan allows us to reach a younger demo as it extends our vision to entertain, inform and connect with our audience."
LA 18 has served Southern California's culturally diverse, multilingual community for more than 30 years. This station for the multitude of different Asian groups in Southern California offers a unique assortment of news, sports, drama, and entertainment programs aired in 13 different languages.
The FUNimation Channel is a 24-hour digital network featuring programming from top anime brands in the U.S. It is available in the Los Angeles area via digital broadcast on LA 18's digital channel LA 18.3. FUNimation is working with OlympuSAT, a leading distributor of independent digital programming networks, for the distribution of the FUNimation Channel. OlympuSAT is the exclusive distributor of the FUNimation Channel, available to video service providers across the nation.
For more information on the FUNimation Channel and how to get it in your area, log on to www.funimationchannel.com.
Fort Worth, Texas-based FUNimation Ent. (www.funimation.com) is a brand management company and one of the nation's leading independent home video entertainment companies. The company manages a full spectrum of rights for most of its brands including broadcasting, licensing, production, Internet and home video sales and distribution.
Founded in 1976, LA 18 (www.la18.tv) is southern California's No. 1 Asian-language TV station bringing news and entertainment, in 13 languages, to the largest U.S. Asian market with more than 2.5 million Asian consumers. LA 18 airs daily local news in Mandarin, Korean, and Vietnamese and produces daily variety shows in Mandarin and Tagalog. LA 18's over-the-air signal covers 6.2 million TV households in the Los Angeles and San Diego television markets. LA 18 is also carried by all cable systems, DirecTV and DISH Network in the L.A. DMA. LA 18 and its sister station KIKU-TV Honolulu are represented nationally by Petry Media Corp.
