5 Questions with Anime Net pres Kevin Corcoran

Most programmers insist on launching as a linear service. Why did you feel confident going the VOD route? It was the only route available. There wasn’t much of a choice. We knew we had a dedicated and underserved audience that would make a VOD offering successful. How has the linear launch on Insight been? We are in advanced negotiations with just about every major operator for linear carriage. We launched with Insight at the very end of July. The response from fans and consumers has been fabulous. [We were ready to go linear, and were] just waiting for the opportunity. In light of Sony’s deal with Comcast, do you think they will launch an anime net of their own? Sony is certainly running around saying they will. We’ve demonstrated tremendous success on Comcast VOD, and we were told that if we demonstrated tremendous success, we will get a linear network. Sony does not have the breadth of content and quality of content that we do for the North American market. We think it will be very difficult for them to launch a quality, linear service without our quality and breadth of content. What has to be fixed with VOD right now? I’d like to see the interface a little easier to navigate… There also needs to be more awareness of the VOD offering. Once you find VOD, speaking as a consumer, it is a very convenient way to watch programming that you want to see. Of course the word must get out there for more folks to know it’s available. Favorite traditional cartoon character? Bugs Bunny.